Útlægr
by Blue663
Summary: The Berkian Heir screwed up spectacularly, again, only this time; by defying 300 years worth of tradition in front of the entire tribe, how will the tribe handle the stab to their proverbial backs, especially when they find themselves suddenly plunged into the midst of war?(I don't own HTTYD)
1. Chapter 1 - Outlaw

**Cupcake made me laugh throughout the story's discussion, damn!**

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 **"Hey readers, It's me the beta reader. Enjoy or die" –Dragonbow117**

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 **Added (12/18/15)**

 **Note:** please keep in mind that I am either extremely subtle, or extremely obvious... being adequate is quite a challenge for me... so if you're new to the fandom just remember these key points for the story, otherwise you'll get confused...

 **1.** This is a canon divergence...

 **2.** The following events happen roughly a year after the first movie...

 **3.** Hiccup did not succeed on shooting down Toothless and has been trying ever since...

 **4.** Hiccup was 15 in the first movie, and now he's 16...

 **5.** Berkians are narrow-minded jerks... but they are not stupid...

 **6.** I change POVs constantly, like crazy...

 **7.** From here will be somewhat kind of an introduction to the story... unless I say otherwise...

That will be it for now... if I reveal any more, there would be no need for flashbacks... this is just to keep you from thinking too hard about unnecessary subj points...

* * *

 **Chapter One**

"Outlaw"

Exile…

A word spoken in spite or in sorrow, with everlasting grief laced with ridicule… it is a disgrace, a stain on a good name, dishonor… and freedom like no other…

If you think about it, it's actually not all that bad… unbound by rules of a single land, permitted to set foot anywhere but the place that exiled you, but even if you did... all you had to do was avoid being impaled, no biggie… I gaze up at the evening sky as the frigid temperature caused my breath to come out as huffs of mist in every exhale; I followed the clouds with my pair of emerald orbs as they proceeded to drift slowly across the horizon of azure, with tinctures of red and gold tracing the surface of the puffy vapors dropping snowflakes with every stroke…

One by one they landed on my face, closing my eyes as the coldness caressed my cheeks, snow melting away as they made contact with my alabaster complexioned frame with a contrasting warmth, I took in a deep breath as I reopened my eyelids and gazed forwards…

Ivory powder covered the ground, trees on every corner, and large rocks, giving a mystified sense of purity with layers upon layers, adding up and burying what was once alive and green, leaving only the form of cold frozen snow… just like what I'll soon be… I looked behind me, farther back, torches were held by people in small boats, sailing away with warm furry clothes resting on their backs, in the comforts of groups… where I once was, but will probably be never again…

Banishment; is what I am currently subjected to… I furrowed my brows and press my lips into a thin line, I expected this, I had a whole fifteen years to prepare, I thought the preparation was enough, but during the declaration I wasn't able to suppress a grimace as I felt that small emotional prick in my chest, but I can't say it was all for naught either. My show of distress was subtle, whereas any sane person would be wallowing in sorrow and enveloped by fear and everlasting shame, begging the chief to reconsider… I scrutinized the back of my right hand, there lay a mark, a scar burned into my skin which etched itself so deep, you'd doubt it'd ever fade in due time… it was a symbol of a spiraling nightmare impaled in the head by an arrow…

The brand of the traitor… the brand of the deceased…

I am dead to them… thus; they are the same to me… I gaze at the last of the boats to depart, it harbored the chief… Stoick the Vast; leader of the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans… for a moment we seemed to have locked eyes as he froze under my stare…

My father… Scratch that, he's no father of mine… Just like the Hairy Hooligans is no Tribe of mine, never was, and never will be… I lay not a claim of membership to that awful godsforsaken place where I remembered nothing but torment from my early childhood to adolescence, with a consuming anger welling up I glared back at my erstwhile father… this is not the end… they won't be getting rid of me that easily…

"Veriði sæl, þangað til við hittumst aftur… minn forliðinn Ættbálkur…"

 _Farewell, until we meet again… my antecedent Tribe…_

I will be back, and when I do… it would be to lay waste to that sorry excuse for a home…

This, I promise you…

* * *

 _five days prior..._

* * *

I cracked open my eyes as I vigorously blinked out the harshness of the peeking beams through whatever gap so happened to lead the rogue ray to be directed at my visage, I rubbed my lids with the palm of my right hand and let out a yawn as I sat upright on my bed eyes half opened and slack jawed… I scanned my surroundings and took a minute to asses where I was, making a mental checklist along the way… wooden walls, wooden windows, wooden desk, wooden bed, wooden floorboards, wooden, wooden, wooden… all seems to be in order and accounted for…

So I'm still here…

I pushed off my covers as I shuffled off of the bed, fabric rustling as I did so, with a loud creak I transferred my full weight onto the rough ligneous floorboards…

Descending from my bedroom this morning seemed to be too big a chore for me today… I blinked away any last remnants of sleep that clung to me even as I stood, nearly making me fall back to bed… but as tempting as that was; I had to attend to my increasing appetite as to not cause it to bring me pain…

I painstakingly moved my legs in accordance, as fast as my sluggish body could muster… upon reaching and opening the cupboards however, I found most of them were occupied by nothing but empty air, I frowned…

"Weren't these full yesterday?"

I questioned to no one in particular, I shifted my gaze to the door… my frown blooming into an outright scowl of contempt and indignation… I was never one to enter the town during normal days like these… I mostly spent my time within the confines of home or the forge; sometimes I wander the forests of Berk safe from prying eyes and glowering glares of hatred and hostility…

I walked towards the back door in search of the small satchel where I keep my supplies for hunting, as a form, I actually meant setting up traps for any unfortunate small animal who comes traipsing around unaware of the danger that might befall it… I scan the corners in hopes to catch a glimpse of the leather container, but nay, it seemed to have been hidden away, out of my reach, must be my father's doing… and I suppose he's also responsible for robbing the cupboards of their fare…

I let out an exasperated sigh as I turned back to the main entrance… eyeing the door with newfound emotions stirring within me, causing an unwelcomed feeling of disdain to surface… I began to take steps towards the front door but halted halfway across the room as my facials relaxed into an empathic expression, a thought crossing my mind…

 _I'd rather starve…_

With that, I made my way towards my room with nothing more than the protests of wooden floorboards at my wake…

.

Worried…

To say Stoick the Vast was worried, would be an understatement… he wasn't just worried, he was distressed, knowing that your own child was alone in the house, probably starving made his insides twist in knots, knowing that it was because of him probably didn't help either…

But he did it for him, he did it for Hiccup; the child of sixteen winters meant a lot to him, even if he screwed up, Stoick cared, he felt for the boy that was his son… Stoick buried his head in his massive calloused hands and let out a sigh, what changed?

It seemed only yesterday the child used to gaze at him with a curiosity that made any grown man cry, with emeralds for tools that see the world in non-existent colors, and miniature fingers that could feel the roughness in about any smooth texture… the feel of ruffling the child's russet hair brought about a joy within a father such as Stoick like no other, but alas, the child grew up, and his accomplishments seemed to have dwindled… superiority left behind in his younger years…

When young, you are praised for having an intellect of an adult, but that would no longer matter as growing up in a dragon-infested place uses brawn as a deciding factor for status and worth… the teenagers within the Tribe began to sprout out incredible combat prowess at an early age, praised for being the generation of prodigies yet to be bested…

He expected his son to be one of them… Stoick expected Hiccup to be an inheritor of his genes and skills fit for a chief, every expectation he had for Hiccup, was crushed… even as he grew Hiccup never lost the ever-growing intelligence he had, nor the frailty he possessed at birth, in fact, he seemed more fragile now than he was at early infancy…

Stoick began unconsciously drumming at the tabletop with his index finger as he awaited the appearance of his only son and heir… he had time on his hands, and he had the new renovations to Berk to thank for, now his Chiefing duties were reduced to small tasks and overseeing some construction from time to time… Stoick stops his drumming and glares intensely at the door; making some of the villagers flinch every time they walk past his line of sight… he waited…

It has been a few months since his son decided to stay cooped up in their homestead, ever concealing, even within the boundaries of their house, he barely even caught an espy of the boy. Stoick constantly mulls over this notion; when did the child start acting like this? To that, he had little to no answers… all he knew was; it was unhealthy, so he took the liberty to empty their food supply and even go as far as to hide Hiccup's hunting necessities so that the boy would leave their home and join the rest of Berk for a meal or two, it was sure to work… but as more and more time passed, people began finishing their meals and leaving the great hall's enclosure, the sun had even reached its highest peak, it was noon… with a sigh, Stoick got up and gathered an ensemble of cheeses and meat, the child, as skinny as he already was, didn't need to go even skinnier…

Stoick was making his way towards the door when it was suddenly flung open, making the wind wail, gushing through the opening, making flames on candles dance on tabletops farthest from the door, causing some of the closest to extinguish into nothing but smoke, nothing but melted wax and burned to black strings on each of their ends… expecting a snowstorm in a week, he'll damned if the news his brother is about to tell him now were to be connected to the livestock… that is, if his brother's expression is anything to go by, he'd say it's probably bad news…

"Spitelout, brother, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I believe the question would be 'to whom'."

"What did he do this time?"

"He's setting up another one of his freaky inventions, but I think you'd need to see for yourself before you listen to anything from anyone…"

"Why not, I was on my way outside anyway…"

Stoick was about to take a step outside the hall when his brother decided to stop him, his current concern were grand entrances, and as his brother and second-in-command, Spitelout was not about to let his Chief come upon the scene carrying a tray of comestibles looking like some servant with rations for just anyone…

"What's wrong?"

Stoick questions his brother's behavior as Spitelout abruptly thrust a finger and points at the tray of cheeses and meat in his hands…

"We can't be leaving with you carrying that…"

Spitelout explains, Stoick stares at the entrée he held and back to his brother, with a nod, he called for a nearby villager. He instructs them to bring the food to his house and leave it on top of the table… it took no little amount of time walking as they weren't in a rush towards the scene, their pacing worried the chief a little, he wanted to get this over and done with, but he didn't share his internal distress with his brother that was walking beside him… it probably wasn't that big a deal, seeing as the affair didn't need immediate attention, but it must've been something big considering the fact that it needed the chief to be called upon it…

Stoick guessed; by the direction they were headed, the issue probably occurred in the woods, or near the woods… though thanks to a few slightly more dominant concerns in the village, by the time they were close to their destination; it was almost sundown when they heard it… they heard a that dreadful screech of the night fury, but before they even had time to duck and cover, the screech was replaced by a shriek of fright…

Stoick looked ahead in disbelief, something fell out of the sky and into the village, he shifted his gaze to his right and find his brother in almost the same state of disbelief he was formerly in, with a nod on both sides, a clear message of comprehension, the two of them stormed towards the direction where the figure was theorized to have crashed down into… the village square…

After passing the final hurdle, they reached their destination as a jaw dropping display unfolded before their very eyes… a creature of reptilian beauty, with jet black scales glistening under the light of the sun that has already begun its dip into the sea's surface, it casted shadows in all the right places, it absorbed the light and stubbornly kept hanging onto the darkness the scales held, it had a smooth lithe body of fair curves and edges, talons sharpened to a point, spikes protruding from its back down to its tail that fanned out like fins, the creature overall gave a dangerous but alluring vibe… Berkians may be tough, but they had an eye for beauty, and this type of beauty, is just about enviable when it is mounted on their wall…

But there was something that made it more alluring… it lay there entangled in a bola, so injured, so weak, so… helpless…

The Villagers started approaching this strange creature of black, it must've felt the change for when people became too close, it snapped open its acidic pair of emerald orbs that looked a rough mixture of yellow and green and started growling and thrashing around, revealing a pair of tied up wings covered in obsidian scales, and a smaller set just below it as a consequence of the struggle, and if without the restraints, heads would probably be flying right about now…

"Stay back, everyone stay back!"

Stoick called out to his people to keep them from coming too close to the creature, the dragon, Stoick scrutinized the dragon, one more time, it was a bit smaller than the rest of the dragons he's seen so far, and yet it gave him a lingering feeling of dread as he gazes at the creature… normally a dragon in the vicinity would immediately be beheaded, but humans are curious creatures by nature, and seemed to find themselves frozen in wonder…

Stoick was the first to snap himself out of his reverie and gripped his trusty axe, silence filled the square, and just when he was about to pull his axe out of its holster, bantering resounded not far off from where he stood, Stoick took his eyes off of the beast and turned to look at the source of the noise…

"I probably would've done a better job… I mean, why couldn't I? If Hiccup could do it, I could do better."

The voice resounded off not far from where Stoick stood, and it was very obvious that the voice belonged to Snotlout, Spitelout's son, you can tell by the smugness the boy's voice contained…

"Anyone could do better than Hiccup…" Answered a scratchy female voice, with a hint of a smirk…

"Yeah, except the building part though… Dude how did you manage to make something like that anyway…" someone questions with a deep gravelly voice of a male, but it seemed half of the sentence was not directed at the two former speakers…

"I want one." the one with the scratchy female voice pipes in with resolution in her tone…

"No I wanted one first!"

"I said it before you, dimwit!"

"Well I suggested it before you, trollface!"

The sounds of arguing turned into sounds similar to that of a physical brawl, there were occasional grunts that grew in volume as they neared the village square…

Stoick expected the group of teens, but he didn't expect the group of teens with _Hiccup_ in it, he was surprised to see his son, nonchalantly making his way while dragging another weird contraption and the other teens hot on his heels, Snotlout bragging, the Twins bickering, Fishlegs skulking, and Astrid uncaring… Stoick quirked his brow as Hiccup coldly went past him without even so much as a 'hi' or a single nod, while the other teens followed, not forgetting to greet their chief… Stoick felt a stinging in his chest as his son reacted like he wasn't there, he supposed he deserved it, after all he was the reason his son missed both morning and noon meals…

With a sigh, Stoick approached his son that was nearing the creature of black so that he could protect him if a crisis were to show itself…

"Hiccup…"

Stoick called out to him when he came too close to the creature; much less than Stoick liked, but still kept walking… he was approximately three to five strides away when Stoick decided to stop the teen by grabbing his arm and halting his steps, and even then Hiccup still refused to look him in the eye and settled for locking sights with the creature… they both gazed at each other, unflinchingly, even as the dragon growled, Hiccup remained unfazed and kept staring…

"Dad, let go…"

"Hiccup…"

Stoick voices out in a pleading way, the dragon may be small, but a dragon's a dragon, and will definitely go for the kill when it gets a chance… he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something were to happen to his son, even after all those years of ignoring him for being what he wasn't, he finally realized the brilliance of what his son was… and his brilliance included the creations of weapons in all of Berk… even his axe was unsafe from his son's talented hands… if only he saw it sooner… maybe Hiccup wouldn't have had to resort to such foolhardy attempts to be accepted…

He wouldn't have to think of having the need to earn something that was supposed to be his from the start… something that he didn't have to earn…

Stoick stared at his son, Hiccup turned his mop of auburn and finally faced his father; Emerald orbs met emeralds as he gazed up at the bigger man and quirked his brow, treating the chief like he was a ridiculous child…

"It's tied up, how do you expect it to hurt me?"

With the sound logic, Stoick found himself loosening his grip, but still didn't let go… he hesitated as the pair of orbs that were much like his, was filled with that expectant look he knew so much… he didn't want Hiccup to get hurt, and at the same time he didn't want the village think he was overprotective of his son… and once again, his reputation won against his concerns for Hiccup as he reluctantly let go of his son's arm… with a single thought in mind…

 _Please don't let this be something I regret…_

.

I stared at my arm where the feeling of my father's iron grip lingered… it hurt, but I wasn't about to whine and cry to the tribe that did everything in their power to make me miserable, and besides it didn't hurt that much, if he meant to hurt me, it would probably make me scream even with the efforts of suppressing it… probably, I'm not really sure, he's never actually done anything like that… not that he was never tempted…

I have grown so used to not being able to hold conversations with anyone, I simply learned their body language and was able to clearly gauge the emotions their eyes suggested, however little it may be, if I will it, I'd be able to read even 'Stoick the Vast' like an open book…

I turned to the Dragon and crouched to achieve eye-level, as much as I like looking down on things, I also understood the pains of having to look up… and the dragon just looked so pitiful I couldn't help it… we stared at one another, one scrutinizing the other, I reached into my vest and pulled out my seax with nary a tremble to behold and unsheathed the blade… but as soon as I did, I heard shouts of protests and condemnation directed at me…

"Wha' are ye doin'!?"

"Wha right do ye ave ta kill it?"

"A half-pint like ye dos no' deserve da honor!"

I scowled at the crowd, thinking they can just say whatever they please, what were they doing here anyway? Do they think they have the right to judge? Do they even realize who was able to accomplish the feat of shooting down this night fury? I so don't have time for their useless accusations, the next thing you know, they'll probably start proclaiming my prey for their own and no one will believe me if I say otherwise…

I caught it so I should be the one to kill it…

"Hiccup caught it so he should be the one to kill it."

Almost immediately my head snapped towards the owner of the voice…

I was alarmed at how much that sentence mirrored my thoughts… could it be that someone has finally understood me? With all my desperate attempts, I was led to believe the thing that I have longed for has come true… so much that… the possibility of it being within the boundaries of mere 'Viking mentality' escaped me, no one has ever stood up for me before, so when I turned and caught sight of the speaker, I was left dumbfounded as my mind struggled to comprehend the possibility… the possibility of Astrid speaking on my behalf…

She caught me looking at her and nodded, I wasn't sure what to do, so I simply returned the gesture with a bit of reluctance on my part and turned back to the creature… the crowd still didn't let up with their gossip though, the noises seemed to have doubled as some of the villagers cried with outrage at the revelation…

They were in disbelief, not that I blame them, my capabilities aren't exactly what you'd consider… dependable, especially when it comes to fighting dragons… but I didn't fight the beast, I captured it, which really didn't use much effort with the help of my invention… I returned the stare the dragon so fixedly pointed at me, it never left my frame from the moment we first locked eyes… I could hear my father's voice over the incoherent mess of the villagers voices mashed into blabber…

He seemed to have asked me a question… but all I saw or heard was the night fury that was in front of me, ready to meet his demise…

"This is the end, Night Fury… I win…"

At that… the whole village was brought into an unsettling silence as they seemed to have lost their voice at my one proclamation…

.

Pride…

Astrid felt pride…

Not only will Hiccup finally be able to kill a dragon and stop the other Tribes from looking down on them, he might also just be able to change the future that seemed so grim by proving he was capable of being chief…

He'll be one of them, and even though Astrid wasn't able to render the growing feeling of jealousy in her chest immobile, she was happy for him, speaking up was the least she could do for the years of ignoring him… which he made so painfully clear was wrong at some point… people from Berk weren't exactly known for their morals, but when pointed out, the knife of guilt just seemed to pass through their chests, that was what made Hiccups words so painful… it's because they rang true… and Astrid plans to make it up to him, never mind the beating he got when she retaliated with bodily harm…

Though her edict proved not to be the one to bring the noises to a halt… although the chief certainly did…

"Silence!"

She heard the Chief demand, some stopped their gossips, but there were still others who didn't as they settled in for whispering instead… the Chief turned his gaze to his son, sizing up the child… Astrid inaudibly gulped at the intensity of the Chief's stare as Hiccup remained oblivious, much more interested in the dragon, than the Chief…

"Hiccup, son, is this true?"

The chief questions Hiccup, but he remained still, eyes trained on the Night Fury, knife in hand idling about… just then, in barely above a whisper, Hiccup uttered a few words as his gaze hardened with a deadly glint…

"This is the end, Night Fury… I win…"

That brought everything to a halt, as the surroundings seemed to have frozen almost immediately…

At first their reactions confused the young lass as she furrowed her brows at their response… but then, the realization hit Astrid like a rock… they didn't know… they weren't there when the teens found Hiccup setting up another weird contraption close to the forest, they weren't there when he aimed it at the screeching figure, and they definitely weren't there when Hiccup ensnared the dragon in a single dislodge of a bola, sending it into the village square…

They simply didn't know…

Astrid turned to look at the pair of boy and dragon, she looked into youth's eyes and saw a range of emotion; hope, pride, and fear… She smiled; fear, yes, it is normal to feel such a thing when you are about to take another life for the first time… but people grow used to it as time passes and experience doubles. Hiccup raises his seax high, this time no one stopped him… but just when he was just about to bring it down, the range of emotions spiraling within him changed, in his eyes, all Astrid saw, was sympathy…

This… Astrid thought… This is not right… Why now? When he was just about ready, why hesitate? A single stab could seal his fate, gain the village's approval, make his future brighter… so why hesitate?

She shifted her gaze towards the dragon and found it in a state of acceptance… in defeat, could it be? She turned back to Hiccup and saw a different type of emotion in the boy… regret…

This piqued Astrid's interest… somehow the dragon actually had something in it that Vikings thought impossible, and what's more it seemed Hiccup saw the same thing she saw, so she must not have gone crazy after all. Astrid wanted to know more, she very much wanted to see more of what the creature was capable of… for a while the air grew heavy as seconds were robbed from them…

After a while, Hiccup lost all the tension in his shoulders he needed to end the Night Fury's life… and Astrid found herself almost sighing in relief… almost, it all still baffled her… what is he going to do? Is he about to throw away a bright future? Destroy his chance at a better life?

"What is he doing?"

She heard Snotlout say behind her in almost a whisper, Astrid moved her eyes to look at him but decided it wasn't worth the effort, so she instead just kept her eyes fixated at the front, taking in the scene before her…

 _Probably something stupid…_

She answered him mentally, and no amount of bragging would be enough to tell her how right she was at that very moment…

* * *

 **A/n:**

I wanted to use Morgunverður for breakfast and Hádegisverður for lunch, but Cupcake said it seemed unnecessary, and I actually agree with him… I wanted it to look fancy and shit like that… what? Oh c'mon, it's not like you guys never say shit at all…

There'd be plenty of chapters to apply it anyway, it's not like It'll be lost... what? no, not the 'Shit' part, I meant Morgunverður and Hádegisverður…

I feel like a one-man comedy skit... but remember, I'm no man, I'm a WOMAN... hehehe...


	2. Chapter 2 - Transient

**If one were to say I was obsessed with pretty presentations… I wouldn't deny them…**

 **.**

 **(SMr. Freeze): Duly noted…**

 **(x1tears1x): That goes for the both of us, dude…**

 **(Dragonbow117): You just can't let that go… can you… and yes, you can look forward to the next chapter… you're my beta reader, still a reader, albeit a little spoiled, but a reader nonetheless…**

 **(Z): Are you seriously telling me this in times where nouns, like literal names are being used as adjectives? I agree with my story being cool though… and I wanna make it cooler… ;)**

 **(Shaveza): wait… is your… it is!? I'd recognize that scar anywhere! OMG! Why the fudge do I keep fangirling everytime I see Allen Walker of all people!? I'll keep writing… just keep that picture right where it's at.**

 **(alpha darkwolf): No… I actually plan to do better… but I'm kinda having a hard time…**

 **(Septimus714): so I shall…**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

"Transient"

I stood there unmoving on the icy plain, contemplating with eyes closed, Letting snowdrops perch on my cheeks…

I was not nice…

I was not fine…

And I definitely was not happy…

My status gave me certain privileges, yes, but it also subjected me to ridicule on a daily basis, and if we add my wiry frame and lack of lust for blood and vengeance into the mix, it would be a nice thorough concoction for a lifetime of misery…

For every good I made, they were always eclipsed by my mistakes… my wrongs that have already aged from years… you'd think they'd already have forgotten about a single three year old explosion when explosions crop out of Berk on a weekly basis… but no, I was always reminded before and after the next day unfolds, by everyone, heck, even my own _blood relatives!_

They kept it close to heart and personal, they tried hard to never forget, all because it was done by me… by a _Hiccup…_

They kept this repetitive cycle of prodding the memories out of me… constantly keeping the pain intact as they make me recall my mistakes, always recounting them, and when they run out of things to throw, they just start making stuff up… calling me a liar for my refutations, no one believes me… so why did I even bother?

I always entertained myself with these thoughts; what wound will they reopen next? What mistake will they make me recall, today? What lie of a stain will they besmirch on me tomorrow?

It never failed to help me pass time… there were just so many ways to torment the living; I just wish it wasn't directed at me… I have lived a life, anticipating each day to be full of mockery and insults…

But now, what awaited me was a tomorrow I've been dreading my entire life... what was promised to me, gone, just because of something I did that didn't even cause any damage… no explosions, no death, there wasn't even a lone scratch on even a single one of those muscle-brained idiots… I don't regret it though… it just made me realize how much I hate them…

I opened my eyes. Emeralds glimmering with hope as I trudged through the deep snow, one foot in front of the other, sinking as I shifted my weight to advance forward, plowing through the beautiful, yet cold ethereal and powdery plain… I'm on my own now with no torment left to haunt me… just a tomorrow I can craft without prejudice…

 _All I need to do is keep moving forward…_

* * *

I hesitated… the look the dragon had on its face tugged at me… Why? How? When? Millions of other questions swirled around the confines of my head as I gaze at the creature, for that one waking moment… I saw something no Viking thought possible… I was just a second away from plunging my knife into the hide of the beast when I saw something that my people denied for three hundred years…

I saw emotion…

And it wasn't just one… there was confusion, curiosity, anger, hurt, shame, and even though they were already powerful enough that they were almost tangible, they all seemed less noticeable compared to the overwhelming amount of _fear_ the creature emanated _…_

From a single look alone, you can tell that the thing was devastated, I'd bet it had questions too… way more than I had in mind… I wonder, before I ensnared it, did it have a pleasant way of life? Well, probably better than I ever had… anything is better than the disreputable ways I grew up in, the treatment I was subjected to during my growth to adolescence… he had a better life, now, he's about to lose it to some miserable, puny, creature that was thought low of by even his own people …

I did this…

I released the breath that I seemed to have held unconsciously and relaxed my shoulders, I slowly brought down both arms that grasped my blade… the next thing you'd expect of me is letting go of my weapon, but my grip on my seax remained firm as it reflected the fires of the dying sun, its task is not over just yet. I held my weapon with my right hand in a reverse grip with the blade in, I made it hover just above my thigh, aligned with my chest with its sharp edge pointed away. As soon as I did so, I could hear faint whispers questioning my intentions and whatnot, but I paid them no heed… I scanned the creature of obsidian scales…

Its breathing was rough, it held a few old scars; some of its scales were chipped from the fall… I shifted my gaze to the farthest part of its tail… other than minor cuts and scrapes… there doesn't seem to be any major damage on the wings and tail… I don't pride myself for being a dragon slayer, but when one lives in a place that is under constant attacks, you just can't help but pick up a few things… for example; when fighting a fire-breather, you've got to target the appendages they need to fly, specifically, the wings and tails, and since the ground is a Viking's domain… a downed dragon, is a dead dragon…

I tried my hardest to level out my breathing and keep my heart from pumping out of my chest, for what I am about to do would probably be one of my last on Berk…

I inspected the rope wrapped around the dragon, and while doing so I shifted the position of the knife in my hand into that of a forward grip where I placed my thumb on my weapon's spine, I grabbed a handful of the rope that coiled around the dragon's body… Due to my work at the forge I have surprisingly become efficient at handling knives and short blades, so it didn't take me more than a single swipe to cut the ropes, and before anyone could stop me…

 ** _Snap!_**

With that resounding snap of the rope, time seemed to have stopped, every villager was wide-eyed with held breaths in disbelief… the dragon seemed to be in the same condition as it lifted its head and overlooked it's whole body, eyes in slits, earflaps twitching… I slowly stood up and backed away, the dragon once again trained its gaze on me as he slowly shifted its body, positioning it to a crouching stance, gently; it lifted both wings high in the air, forcefully brought them down…

 ** _Swoosh!_**

And with that, the dragon was gone… and so was the sun…

I turned to my Father who was still gazing at the direction the dragon disappeared to, he seemed as dumbfounded as the other villagers, I swept my gaze all around, taking in the scene of the village, the lights were still out, that means no one has left the village square since they arrived, the whole place was dim… one by one the villagers appear to have snapped out of their stupor, some looked at me with questioning gazes, some betrayed, and most of them glared at me with hatred…

I returned my sights to my father, the expression he wore; was one of betrayal… behind him, I could see uncle Spitelout ushering the villagers to return to their houses…

 _This is going to be fun…_

I thought to myself as the villagers began to reluctantly return to their homes. Gathered in front of me, however, was the council… my father's gaze never left me, and I already know what will happen next… the words he uttered with his expression grim at that very moment, only confirmed my suspicions…

"Great Hall. Now."

.

Astrid was dumbfounded… she couldn't believe how a simple scenario like this escalated to one of complete and utter madness… she expected him to do something stupid, and believe it or not, letting the dragon go was indeed one of the possible scenarios she came up with… but judging by the level of how stupid it was, she dismissed it as the most idiotic thing someone as smart as Hiccup would do… she thought no one would be able to go nearly as stupid and reckless as the twins… but Hiccup has shown otherwise…

She knew, Astrid knew from the look in his eyes, that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill the beast… she expected him to want to study it, keep it alive in a more, shall we say… subtle way…

Astrid watched as the council of elders made their way to the great hall with Hiccup not far behind, his gait was one of those unapologetic but troubled, possibly annoyed…

"I can't believe he would do such a thing…"

Astrid said barely above a whisper with slightly furrowed brows, as she follows the brunette with her eyes… (but then, who was she to say when she ignored him for almost his entire life, right?)

"Yeah, I know right? I mean, why would a dragon, just fly away without even so much as a single explosion!?"

Tuffnut voiced in exasperation, but the minute those words left his mouth, the rest of the teens froze as they began to look at him with eyes as wide as saucers… the male twin, finally noticing the attention on him, quirked his brow at his companions' antics… "What?" he questions them, but when it failed to elicit a response from the group, he grew uncomfortable and tried to elaborate the question…

"Why are you guys looking at me like that? Was it something I said?"

Astrid was the first to drop her gaze, but it didn't do anything to lessen the wideness of her sapphires as she tuned out all of the sounds around her, one thought occupying the whole capacity of her mind… Tuffnut was right, but it wasn't the sentiment of Tuffnut being right was what shocked her, no… it was what he was right _about_ that made her gears scream and grind… the dragon didn't attack… the _dragon_ didn't attack. The dragon _didn't_ attack. The dragon didn't _attack!_ No matter how she flips it, or picks out a word to stress, it still didn't make sense… she doesn't get it… after the lessons she went through, after coming out on top of Dragon Training, she remembers every tidbit Gobber, a veteran at dragon slaying and coach, had taught them… and if there's one thing he was very clear about… it's that…

"Dragons always go for the kill…"

Astrid seemingly whispers to herself, she then suddenly rips her gaze away from the ground where she was just absently gazing at as she seemed to come back down to Miðgarðr after her head's little journey from Ásgarðr…

She turned to look at the door Hiccup and the council disappeared into just in time for it to be shut, securely keeping anything out… or in…

At this moment, she was sure she wouldn't be able to get a wink of sleep after what she just witnessed… and it's probably the same with the rest of Berk…

.

To Stoick, it was like he had been stabbed by one of the people he trusted the most, if it wasn't in sight, it was obvious in mind, he couldn't see it… but he felt it… and even though it didn't seem obvious, despite the boy's shortcomings, he trusted his judgement when it wasn't about his inventions… Hiccup was smart about these things, he's practically the smartest boy in the village, and he'd be damned if anyone told him otherwise…

So imagine how he felt when he saw his son… his only son; that was more intelligent than three-quarters of the people in Berk, release that dragon for the whole middle world to see right into the heart of the village! And what's more, that dragon was none other than the notorious offspring of lightning and death itself! The Night Fury!?

Stoick boiled with rage at his son's actions. It had mutiny written all over it! No matter how much Stoick tried to think objectively, he still didn't see why his son had to make a show of letting loose one of his people's most hated enemy…

Why did he do that? It didn't do well for Stoick and was sure to tear him up inside, he couldn't even begin to think how he'd react to what Hiccup would say when trialed… even worse, what would the council think? What with the boy's silver tongue and all… he'll probably make it sound worse than it is… Odin above… what will become of his son? His only son… it broke his heart thinking that by the end of the day, he'd lose what was left of his family… just the thought of it made a big lump form in his throat, making a little harder to breathe…

Stoick turned to look at the others following him just as he stepped foot in the great hall… he searched for the familiar mop of auburn hair and approached his son, placing his colossal hand on top of the boy's narrow shoulder, he spoke in barely above a whisper…

"Leave us… I need to have a talk with my son…"

He intended for a low and neutral voice, but instead what came out was the sound of a man that was in the verge of tears… and just when his very dense brother was about to protest –probably didn't even notice the pain in his chief's voice –Gothi, the village priestess and one with the highest authority within the council of elders, abruptly raised her staff, and brought it down, none too gently on Spitelout's head, and began pulling on his ear for good measure… she began leading the rest of the council towards the Chief's table, signaling that they'd wait for them there, and they can take all the time they needed…

After sending a grateful smile to the elder, Stoick beckoned Hiccup to follow him to one of the corners of the great hall for privacy… he turned to his son and began to kneel to achieve eye-level, Stoick has learned a long time ago that when confronting Hiccup; it's best if you make him feel like you're equals… the child knows what respect is, and mirrors it like a… well, a mirror…

In fact, he has become so much like a mirror that it's sometimes very hard to look at him… to most people he reflects their most ugliest side and his words just make it seem more real… Stoick knows what the boy is like at his worst, and he doesn't want to bring that out now by starting this with an accusation… he thought for a moment, long and hard on how to make his words sound as less accusing and menacing as possible…

With a short sigh, he looks into the boy's eyes, and then spoke in a pleading way… he thought of a certain set of words with the least possible tendency to put off the teen… but all he managed to say was…

"Why?"

That single word was very insignificant at that moment… there was not even a need for words at all since his expression gave away anything he might've wanted to say…

.

Silence…

That was all I answered my father with… absolute silence… while gazing into his eyes, I found that the emotion of betrayal drifting within them, his expression was that of pain, like he was the one most damaged out of this whole event… well, it's understandable, when a child goes against their folk's wishes, it could very well cause pain to their own parents… I remained still, gazing back at my father. I could slightly feel the beginning of a crease between my brows… It's not like I came out of this unscathed either…

I had my own emotions forming within my gut like a snowstorm… and the most defined out of all of them was that of anger… fury raged inside of me, ravaging my whole being… I felt a strong resentment for the island, Berk, the village, the people… My father… My mind seemed to want to scream at him… I so badly wanted to raise my voice and start angrily lashing out, but I don't want to waste this much energy on just one person…

"Did you single me out just to ask that?"

I asked him, a little more flat-toned and cold than I intended, with venom leaking out from gritted teeth… as much as I'd like to conserve the anger, I can't seem to stop myself… the only option would be to get on with it before Múspellsheimr freezes over.

I do plan to vent… but I won't give it all to one man… all my life I have lived without being heard… the sensation of bottling up emotions and having to bite back words that might've made Loki proud was, indeed, unpleasant, and believe me when I say that it's frustrating and I want to get rid of this ugly thing, making me want to do horrible things right then and there, but I won't waste it all just because I've run out of patience…

"Let's go, wouldn't want to keep the elders waiting…"

I said solemnly and began turning around, I was itching to get this over and done with, but before I could take even a step, an enormous calloused hand was suddenly in front of me…

"Please Hiccup…"

I scrutinized the large hand blocking my way, and then lift my gaze to meet his; he was practically in the verge of tears… he looked at me with concern and pity… it took my all to keep myself from chuckling sardonically at my father much less avoid a sneer… he seemed to have misunderstood, I wanted to get to the Village elders so that I could vent…

But it seems instead of an impatient youth, all he saw was a criminal who wanted out of the torture of having to wait… I then suddenly felt in the mood to poke bears as I can no longer keep a smirk in check… and as far as anyone is concerned… yes, I'm referring to my dad…

"Wow, this must be my lucky day… I got 'Stoick the Vast' _begging_."

My father wasn't as put off as I was expecting though, he merely frowned and grasped both shoulders of mine… ignoring my taunt, he spoke in a tone of all seriousness… I wouldn't be surprised if he was as desperate as he sounds…

"No, Hiccup, you don't understand… after what you did back there, that is no laughing matter, son… they won't just let that go, they'd be asking for an execution!"

"A life destroyed where it was conjured… seems fitting."

I said nonchalantly shifting my gaze away, brushing off any concerns he had for me… my father then narrowed his eyes…

"Hiccup…"

He starts off in a warning tone… but I interrupted him before he could add any more words to make a sentence after my name…

"Dad, it's to be expected… you and I both know that it was only a matter of time before they decide to get rid of me…"

I said while making a motion of shrugging my shoulders as high as possible so that it wouldn't look like a small twitch happening under my father's massive meaty hands… but of course I failed at that too, proving that my father's appendages were just as heavy as they appeared to be… maybe even more… I instead hardened my gaze as I it locked onto my father's…

"All I did was cut the waiting short…"

.

Stoick sighed and released his son from his grip… there was no getting through the boy… he's about as stubborn as a mule, and his stubbornness is probably the only trait he's inherited that could be considered Viking-like, and that, at the moment, is not something Stoick needs right now…

"Think whatever you like, but I'm not about to let them choose execution as a punishment…"

Stoick said as he turned around, he could faintly hear Hiccup say "Good luck with that" behind him, voice dripping with sarcasm…

Both father and son passed a couple of tables before one that was of circular shape came in sight, it was located at the very center of the hall, it's size was noted to be the biggest, with a fire pit in the middle, this was where serious discussions like dragon raids were planned including the problems within the village…

The elders were already seated but seemed to have not noticed the two due to a conversation they were having… starting a discussion as serious as this was not supposed to be done in the absence of the Chief, for he is the one who has the final say in the matter…

As the pair neared the table, they could hear fragments of the heated discussion…

"The boy's not right in the head…"

"… to free a dragon…"

"It's to be expected…"

"… runt of the village…"

"… He's just a boy."

"So what!?"

"… needs to be executed."

"… to rid the village threat…"

"Dragon sympathizer…"

"Just like his mother."

With the last sentence spat out with as much venom as the rest, Hiccup's patience snapped and he finds himself stomping towards them before his father could even do anything about it… he may not have met his mother, but Hiccup wasn't about to let these geezers flap their mouths and insult her however they please… he didn't have a problem with their choice of words per se, but the tone did wonders to fan his ire… Gothi was the first to notice his approach, but said nothing as the others remained oblivious…

Hiccup walked up to the vacant part of the table, which also happens to be where the Chief was supposed to be positioned, kicking off whatever was on his path to make way for his footwear which startled the group into silence, he climbed on top and looked down on them… one by one… as the elders seemed to have become speechless with the child's actions, Hiccup began to speak, no hint of humor in his voice whatsoever…

"Will you look at that… The gossiping terrors have finally shut up…"

.

Uncle Spitelout was the first snap out of his bewilderment and began to take on an expression like he had been insulted…

"Hiccup! Get off the table right now… we will not tolerate this show of disrespect!"

The voice screeched and I turned to my left to face him…

"Or you'll do what? Sentence me to death? Torture me? Make me regret I was born? You've already done most of that, _Uncle_ … that is, if the last fifteen years aren't anything to go by…"

"Hiccup get off the table…"

Elder Abbas said sternly, within the council he was the fourth most powerful, oh by the way, it seems the most of the council consisted of males, the only female was elder Gothi… I raised a brow at him and asked… "And why would I do that? It's public property." one of the elders piped in again and spoke in a calm tone that irritated me, a lot…

"We will forgive you for this little act if you just get off the table and do as you're told…"

"Forgive?"

I parroted the word in a form of a question… It irritated me on how belittling their tones indicate… First they insult my mother, and then they switch gears and pretend they're on my side? I would laugh at their transparency but I settled for a glare.

"If you are regretful…"

He said, nodding, I took in his words as it further angered me, but before I could start, I stopped myself and I thought for a while, I realized that my little outburst was, indeed, a bit premature… I should've thought of a speech before I did this… well, might as well just wing it… Not like anything planned would have gone any better because hello, Hiccup here, what else could possibly happen.

"Come to think of it, what do you believe should become of me?"

I asked them, in a tone that was slightly higher in pitch than I meant it to be… My change of demeanor bothered the crowd a bit but one of them answered nonetheless…

"For the crime you have committed is most atrocious, you are to be sentenced to death… the least you could do, would be to apologize."

"Crime… I see, Yes, makes great sense… Hey, do you know what else a crime is?"

I questioned them as they began to take on quizzical looks…

"Insulting the Chief's wife dead or not, in front of her family…"

I turned to look at the direction to which I came from. It was then that my father decided to make himself known… He glared at the council, low and menacing…

"Chief Stoick! Uh, that was…"

"Oh and by the way…"

I said raising my voice to get their attention to return to me… I raised my chin and looked down at the elders, all the amusement I had in my voice was already gone… but I allowed a ghost of a smile to grace my features…

"You said to apologise, Like, say sorry, right?"

I gave out an insulting laugh and spoke again…

"Are you kidding me? After all I did for you; forge your weapons, sharpen your tools, and try to be worth something. you then have the audacity to be the ones to think it was I who needs to apologize?"

I kicked the nearest mug into the fire that was situated in the center of the table and sent the flames blazing, the owner of the mug looked at the fire with wide eyes and glared at me… Alcoholics…

"You think I was the one who did all the damage? What? Do expect me to say sorry? Feel concerned, after what I've been put through? Well, tough luck, why don't you petty fiends get a mirror and reflect for a while…"

After kicking off the rest of the things that were on the table, I glanced at the seat that Gothi occupied… it seems out of all of us, she was the only one with the leveled head, she just sat there, clutching her staff and returned my gaze, her face shifted and she smiled at me… it was probably meant to be pleasant, but with her wrinkled face, her haunch and that half-closed left eye, it instead made me shudder… I jumped off before anyone could grab me and headed for the door; that was when I heard a voice of an old man shout after me, I don't know who it was; he was simply too enraged that I couldn't tell… And to be honest, I didn't care.

"GET OUT!"

I turned to look at them; some were red with anger… I smirked for the first time in what felt like years… it just feels great when you have your intended effect on people…

"With pleasure…"

With that I walked towards the entrance, yanked it open and slammed it shut… Albeit the door didn't slam as well as I hoped it would. Given the lack of upper body strength.

 ** _Bam!_**

The short but reasonably loud bang was close enough.

 _Good riddance!_

.

* * *

 **A/n:**

This site is all about reading and sharing right? I would probably kill for a bookmark option right about now…

I'm going monthly, and I'm sorry if none of you considers it as fast, but with school and all that… I can't say time is on both Dragonbow117 and my side… but let me give you a bit more hope, I'll update on the last Sunday of every month… double chapters is also a possibility… this one just came a little too early... it'll happen sometimes...

So you have a month all to yourselves… please take time for reviews, I'll even beg if I have to…

So now, a few words from Cupcake!

 **Dragonbow117** : I don't really mind what you tell them. you can quote anything I've previously said. But whatever you do don't quote this entire sentence that has me explaining that I don't mind what you tell them from me.

(You're going to make THAT my quote aren't you.)

Ps: It's not a quote though... hehehe...


	3. Chapter 3 - Spark

**There's a surprise down there... and I'm not referring to Hiccstrid OR the main story either...**

 **.**

 **(Dragonbow117): I have no idea... it only shows that Microsoft will never be enough...**

 **(dragon god 758): have you seen 'Horrendous' by Bandito Sun? Give it a go, it made me laugh!**

 **(pipi96): yeah, same here... Hiccup is way too much of a goody-goody, it's like after that development, his horribly timed jokes became non-existent and the only thing that was left was his sarcasm... now I feel like crying...**

 **(Shaveza): oh yes, he's steaming hot like, vapour(?)... I also want to see him shirtless! *squeals*... omygosh! I'm being such a bitch! I'm bummed out about the manga though... I get that there must be some complication about the publishers... why can't anything be simple anymore? Like, like finding true to life references... also, I mentioned in the last chapter that I'll go monthly...**

 **(R. Peter)** **: Me too... I-I mean, not that I'm completely clueless or anything, yeah, just a, a bit not clear on some things, yup, not-nothing to, uh, worry about, I have it completely under c-control! *nervous laugh***

 **(Guest): yeah, the backbone thing, was suggested by a friend of mine... she said she was starting to hate underdogs... but I guess, Hiccup is still kind of an underdog here... about the length, I was planning to keep it over 4,000, but other than that, it's sporadic...**

 **(Pegueng): That's because the chapters up until now were somewhat of introductions... everything will get serious once Hiccup's out of Berk... wait... is that considered a spoiler? Hmm... I don't think so, I had another kind of summary in my profile... and plus, the title pretty much says Exile so...**

 **(Guest): yes, he was so cool and for a minute there, I was thinking of tripping him... hehe...**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

"Spark"

The darkness of the sky fades into a vast blue celestial blanket adorned by clouds lightly shaded by the gold and apricot colors of the sun's almost blinding rays, the cool breeze travelled along any open area, it was peaceful and heartwarming, a start of a new day…

On the edge of a cliff, just one of many this certain island harboured, sat a young man of auburn hair overlooking the docks of a seafaring civilization, he had eyes likened to that of the forests greens, with pale skin that made the freckles that peppered his cheeks stand out… he gazed out into the open sea with a despondent look on his face. The youth wore a green tunic, belted and under a brown fur vest that seemed too big for him… he had grown since the first day it was given to him, but it seemed that the vest had no qualms of looking like a cloak instead…

The young man let out a sigh as he looked to his left, to the direction his entire village occupied, or rather the village he lived in… he never felt welcomed no matter what he did… and although he had given up on proving himself to them, he still longed for even little of the amount of respect and acceptance normal people are given…

 ** _Snap!_**

The young man was startled by the sudden sound that made him suck back his breath and whip around to look at the cause of the noise; his emeralds were then suddenly acquainted with sapphires… the brunette visibly relaxed and released his breath as he narrowed his eyes at the figure…

The owner of the orbs was crouched in a sneaking position with a thin snapped twig underfoot... She was roughly the same age, she had blonde hair tied into a braid with bangs swept to the side of her face that covered her left eye; she wore a brown sequined headband around her head, and had a sleeveless blue striped blouse, on her shoulders were rounded studded shoulder pads, she also had a spiked skirt with skulls emblazoned around the waist, underneath were dark blue leggings and fur boots for footwear…

The female relaxed her stance, dropping both her raised arms as she let out a sigh of defeat, she returned the gaze…

The both of them remained as they were, but after a few minutes, with a grim acknowledgement, the young man decided to break the silence with one word to the young blonde…

"Astrid."

At the sound of the young man's voice, the blonde slowly straightened her stance, gazed back at the brunette and responded with her head held high in recognition…

"Hiccup"

.

Astrid watched as Hiccup's expression became stony just after saying her name… she had been looking for this brunette ever since she found out that he was kicked out of the meeting, she was curious about the dragon… the sight was not an everyday occurrence and for Astrid, being in the dark about these things is something she was not used to…

But even with the theorizing of the villagers, she wanted information from the very person who was at the heart of the ordeal, the somewhat source of discomfort… and although there was no hostility and his demeanour was emphatic, she could still sense that the young man was not quite comfortable with her presence…

"Hiccup"

Astrid answered him, but before she could say more, Hiccup turned to face the docks once again and left Astrid to furrow her brows, feeling so obviously jilted… but knowing Astrid, she wasn't disheartened to say the least, in fact, she actually took this as more of a challenge, and if there was one thing she was sure of, Astrid of the Hoffer clan never backs down when anything remotely similar to a challenge was issued… Astrid walked up to Hiccup and asked if she could sit down, but there was only silence… Astrid's eyes narrowed slightly at the other teen's display, but although her hand was itching to, she kept herself from unfastening her axe to clobber the teen with… choosing instead to simply sit down a few steps from him…

Far enough to discourage anyone from any form of physical contact, but also close enough to strike a conversation…

"So… how did it go?"

Astrid tries to ask lightheartedly, a little attempt to lighten up the spirit you might say… and since Hiccup was the one she was dealing with, she expected a little sarcastic remark or to be subject to another cold shoulder… but instead, Hiccup frowned as he slightly tilts his head to the side, just enough to see, but not quite facing her, he gave Astrid a sideways glance… with brows downturned, obviously ticked off, he asks as he gave out a scoff…

"You _care_?"

Hiccup spat out in mock disbelief as Astrid slightly reeled at how much spite the words carried, and from that alone, she can tell that she had made a mistake… she's seen this before, she wasn't a stranger to Hiccup's ways to vent… he's lashed out before, on multiple occasions Astrid was present, but she didn't know the amount of angst her fellow adolescent bore… nor did she know how to handle a Hiccup that was normally awkward, quiet, and shy that turned outright hostile.

"Is that _concern_ I hear? I had no Idea this little _fishbone's_ problems are worth the Astrid's time… _the_ Astrid who was thoroughly bred and raised by the Hoffer clan, the most impressive female prodigy of all time! What did this puny twig ever do to catch the attention of someone from that calibre!?"

Astrid cringed at every phrase Hiccup threw out, this was a first for her, she had never been on the receiving end on Hiccup's anger before... experience in handling Hiccup? She had none, but she can't help but get the feeling that Hiccup wasn't actually mad at her… it was more like he was mad at himself… his words were not directed at Astrid, although the words were about her, the anger was not for her to bear, but that didn't make it any easier for her… she's lashed out on people before, rarely _verbally_ , but she knows what it feels like to blow a fuse...

"I mean, right after years of trying and failing, and when I finally do a mistake other than an explosion, only _now_ does she notice me? What changed? How come she's paying attention to some lowly scrawny teen that she has been ignoring half of her life? Oh wait, All her life."

He said while wildly gesturing out to nothing and everything at the same time…

"Is freeing a dragon what I actually had to do for her to notice me? If that's so, maybe I should do that more often, after all I have nothing left to lose! Who knows! She just might feel the same way and actually return my feelings in a non-existent way! Here I am awaiting for an answer, for my fate to be determined by a bunch of crude old Muttonheads who are very much equal to hypocrites, not knowing that by the end of the day my life may or may not end abruptly, and all miss Astrid wanted to know was 'how did it go'? That's a little insensitive to say, don't you think so?"

When Hiccup finally stopped glaring at her, he was out of breath, a little more due to the emotional strain than the physical, although it did add to it… Astrid looked into those emeralds and saw within them, a boy broken and hating…

He was already mourning… she could see that he felt betrayed… Astrid knew that, she should know that… for ever since the day he claimed that he will finally shoot down the Night Fury, but came up empty handed… he changed, he became more… gloomy… but that's not all, it always seemed like he was running from something...

It's like that was the day he finally cracked… he always seemed rushed and panicked, he rarely came out of their house, he started to get easily irritable, stopped holding out on his words and started saying what was on his mind, and although it helped him acquire more contusions, it also made him more alone… the change was so sudden that it made Astrid want to reach out to him… even though his words were painful and hit the mark most of the time, she couldn't stop, and she knew that she actually cared… but every single time she tried to reach out there were always some complications that led her to keep quiet, every single damned time!

It's hard to cope with change, especially when it's not anything good… whether you are affected directly or indirectly is not important, she knows for a fact that moments like these will haunt her for the rest of her life… and what's worse is that the person who is most affected out of all of this has no one to confide in, Astrid may not be close to the teen, they may not be friends, but they also weren't enemies... but as long as Hiccup was born in the same place as Astrid, she wouldn't stand for him to start hating his tribe despite the treatment they gave him...

And as much as Astrid would like to deny it, she was also part of the crowd that caused him pain, the least she could do was lend him an ear...

Astrid gives the teen a long look with her brows lowered…

"That bad, huh…"

She half-states and half-asks quietly, Hiccup turns his head to look at her, but when he was met with worried blue spheres, all the hate dispersed until all that was left was pain… Hiccup bit his lip and lowered his head… he lashed out, and he actually did it in front of the girl he had feelings for, he was an emotional wreck, and he felt bad that Astrid had to see this, well ashamed actually…

"Is it that obvious?"

Hiccup asks sheepishly glancing at Astrid that had her brows strewn with worry, but when she heard the barely inaudible inquiry of the teen, she couldn't stop the tug she felt at both ends of her lips as it turned into a mischievous smirk...

"Oh, no, not that obvious, it's actually worse than I thought."

She said practically chuckling at the blush that crept up on the other teen's freckle peppered cheeks... although Astrid would never admit it, she probably won't be able to deny that it is kind of cute... but let's just go with funny... Vikings don't do cute...

"Sorry you, uh, had to see this… Not like I could have done any worse… Like… After the dragon and all but… Yeah, still..."

"It's not that bad… seeing you this emotionally beat up actually makes up for all the times you embarrassed me."

Astrid replied remembering the times when Hiccup would call out to her, end up tripping with his words and actually tripping with his own two feet... he was like a stumbling idiot, of course it didn't help that even when he already made a fool of himself, he'd do even more so by not shutting up when he was supposed to...

"I-I didn't embarrass you…"

Hiccup looked at her sceptically, trying to remember what he did wrong...

"True, I guess it was more like you were embarrassing yourself…"

Hiccup's eyes widened in realization, he tried to open his mouth to answer but nothing came out, he closed it and tried again only to end up looking like a fish out of water... Astrid was trying to suppress a smile, and she probably won't be able to if she kept looking at him, so she tried to act nonchalant and gazed out at the sky...

Hiccup's blush darkened as he lowered his head trying to hide it, knowing first-hand how humiliating his actions were, he barely formed a coherent sentence everytime he tried to talk to her... then that's when it hit him... he was actually talking like a normal person in front of Astrid, daughter from the Hoffer clan... he spoke no further in fear that it could ruin the pleasant atmosphere that was looming over them...

The both of them sat there, dangling their limbs and welcoming the comfortable silence that followed…

.

Meanwhile, oblivious of the two teen's now casual interaction, a heated discussion was occurring inside the great hall... a discussion that involved Vikings, Mead, and of course, a lot of shouting... Stoick however, remained quiet, he sat there with a frown, elbows firmly planted onto the tabletop contemplating his next move... he was at a loss of what to do, after Hiccup left the enraged council members immediately took in his act of rudeness to be another type of crime...

They seem to be taking it bad that a mere teenager, who was also known as the runt of the village, left them with blows to their egos without much fuss...

"This, cannot continue! I say we mutilate the boy and leave him to bleed to death!"

"His acts aren't only that of disrespect, it shows how little he values our traditions, he is to be put down!"

"Irresponsible! Completely irresponsible!"

"That child is a danger to himself and the entire village!"

"He's gone, way gone, I'd bet he's in league with Loki!"

"Probably plotting as we speak!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he were to lead an army of dragons to lay waste on our homes!"

"That runt knows no remorse!"

Stoick seemed to have enough, he has given them a full three hours to insult his son, for them to let off some steam before he speaks up, but their words have gone too far... even if Hiccup's acts were that of treason, they have no right to assume he was in cahoots with the Dragons, Gods forbid Stoick to outright strangle these alcohol-induced geezers...

Boiling with rage, Stoick stood up and brought down his hammer onto the table, making a whooshing sound as it was brought down...

 ** _Crash!_**

The noise reverberated off of the walls leaving a pin dropping silence at its wake, the table was unable to take the sheer strength behind the blow, caved in and splintered... the group began to plaster bewildered –slightly spooked– gazes at their chief's towering form, he shot them a glare that spoke volumes of what he was about to say...

Stoick never liked intimidating anyone into following his orders, he would much rather earn their trust and respect, but the words he soaked up made him want to do... unspeakable things to the group, it wasn't enough that they insult his wife; they had to move on to his son too! He allowed them leverage for over three hours, but it seemed no one had any plans at stopping, and if something like that continues; you'll have no choice but to stop it yourself...

"Listen to me and listen well..."

Stoick started off as he glared at their general direction...

"While I am speaking, you are not to interrupt. While my son may have done something unspeakable-"

At that one of the elders snorted, Stoick shot him a glare, seeing him visibly shrink into his seat, Stoick continued...

"-he is still my son, the son of the chief, now, I gave you a full three hours to let off steam, if I hear any more past that, you are to walk out of here willingly before I bash your skulls in... do I make clear?"

He waited for a response, and after a nod from each of them, only did he speak again, satisfied with their reactions...

"Good... now that I have your attention; We. Are. Not. To. Execute. Hiccup."

The whole council –sans Gothi, who only looked on approvingly, since she can't actively participate due to the lack of anyone to translate her writings for her... why is it that; that woman can't just write normally?– widened their eyes at their chief, who only stared back daring them to say anything, and although they very much want to, none of them spoke up in fear of setting off their chief's anger...

"My father has banned all forms of execution among the Villagers, and even though Hiccup has done something inexcusable, although minor..."

He paused to let the thought sink in, he was then met with disapproving glares... Its true though, Valka used to do it all the time, though the only difference between her and Hiccup was that Valka was able to hold her own in a fight... they were simply bending the ways, practically spitting on the graves of their ancest–... no, actually, it was wrong, Valka's deeds were also practically treason, and Hiccup just topped all of it...

"I shall... honor my late father's wishes, Hiccup was born among the tribe and so the rule applies to him..."

There was this particular rule among the Hooligans that were different from other tribes; it was that the current chief cannot change the rules his predecessor applied, only the predecessor before him...

One of the council members fidgeted in their seat, Stoick noticed that and nodded at him...

"Then we still have a problem..."

Stoick narrows his eyes and says "Oh?" taking that as a signal to go on, the council member continues...

"The child cannot simply leave unscathed, the act of freeing a dragon is blasphemous!"

"He's too dangerous to be let loose around the village!"

"How about amputating both his legs so he cannot cause more damage?"

Stoick cringed at the suggestion, but didn't speak against it, the last thing he needed was to be accused of going soft... and by Odin, he was not soft! He was a Viking, mind and body! And the other problem of being accused as soft -other than his dignity as a Viking chief is that- was that his words might fall on deaf ears, the elders, chalking his reasoning up to a father whose judgement was clouded by the fact that the one to be judged was his son...

So what if it's true? Hiccup was the only thing Stoick had left for a family, he was the last of the ones bearing the Haddock bloodline...

"Why don't we just banish him?"

Stoick's head so quickly snapped to attention... to the source of the voice... it was his second in command, brother of his late wife...

 _Spitelout..._

.

"Hiccup?"

Astrid says breaking the peaceful silence that hovered over them not too long ago...

"Hm?"

Hiccup answers, seemingly unbothered by the development, although the silence left much desired, he couldn't say he was displeased with hearing his long time crush's voice either.

"Why didn't you kill that dragon?"

The brunette looked upon the blonde with a raised brow… Astrid shrugged in response.

"Just asking, you know, because you see the rest of us would've done it… what with all the things we could get out of it, you know… fame, glory… respect… But no not you..."

She points out, listing things that are commonly desired among Vikings, which Hiccup simply snorted at…

"Yeah, well, I'm not like that evidently"

Hiccup tried to shrug off the question, he wanted to avoid this topic, but Astrid didn't seem to bite the bait as she continued to stare at him with a look of scepticism stubbornly waiting for his next words... Hiccup, sensing the awkwardness between them becoming unbearable shifted slightly and faced Astrid uncomfortably furrowing his brows...

"W-what?"

"You know that was not the answer I was looking for…"

At that Hiccup had to frown, what is it with this woman and her interrogation methods? It may not be as bad as the other gender's ways, fists and axes… -albeit Astrid could do that too -But why is it that she just can't seem to help but be nosy? It's bad enough that most women gossip about things they involuntarily hear once, but now Astrid just had to get to the roots and ask... can't they just leave it alone for once?

"Oh yeah? Then what are you looking for if I may be so bold?"

Hiccup questions with a hint of irritation in his voice...

"Something that would actually make sense…"

And that did it... crush or no crush, she was getting on his nerves.

"You want to know? Fine! I was a coward! I was weak! And there's no way in Hel that someone like me would ever be able to kill a dragon!"

"Would?"

"Would, could, should! What's the difference!?"

 _Gods! Will this woman just shut up?_ Hiccup thought to himself, he actually believed that they had something going between them earlier, he felt irritated, though, more at himself than Astrid... why was it so hard to answer a simple question? And why is Astrid the one asking? He never did well with questioning, but now she's really starting to make him staying a bit difficult...

"You know quite well what the differences are, you're smart. What you're saying is that you wouldn't kill a dragon, you can, you should, but you choose not to..."

Hiccup's head snapped to glare at Astrid but she stubbornly held the said glare, after a moment of glaring and at the same time contemplating, Hiccups miffed expression slowly softened and melted into a bewildered stare...

"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?"

He asks through narrowed eyes... Astrid saw the doubt behind it and responded half-heartedly...

"You chose not to kill a dragon, thats important. and things like this have always been important to me, I'm just not good at the expressing part... got a problem with that?"

She asks, shooting Hiccup with a mock glare, but Hiccup seemed to have not notice the _'mock'_ behind Astrid's glare... he may have feelings for her, but the woman was scary... you'd be scared too if you were in his place...

"W-what? N-no, no, it's just, I don't know... you seem so out of character lately, it's, it's kind of different from your usual stereotypical Vikingness..."

Astrid stared at him and faked a displeased expression, and again, Hiccup did not notice the _'fakeness'_... it all looked very, very real... like she was about to slice-him-in-half-with-her-axe type of real...

"Stereotypical?"

Hiccup hurriedly tried to answer, trying to quell the anger he seemingly sees, extremely terrified at the moment... but he can't seem to form a coherent sentence right then and there... what was wrong with him? He seemed fine not too long ago!?

"No! I-i mean yes, t-that's–...ow!"

Hiccup exclaimed as Astrid abruptly punched him on the arm, effectively shutting him up... Hiccup rubbed his semi-injured arm as he frowned at Astrid who was smiling playfully at him...

"Relax, I'm just messing with you..."

She says with a grin, sensing the females good mood, Hiccup's brows rose to that of surprise... it baffled him a bit, one moment Astrid was somehow suggesting murder with her eyes, the next she was grinning playfully at him, which makes him wonder if Astrid was suffering from mood-swings...

"T-that's actually pretty amusing..."

Hiccup said more to himself as a grin plastered his face...

"So, any more smart words from our all-time walking talking sarcastic beanpole?"

Hiccup took a moment to process the thread of name-calling and raised a brow at the young shieldmaiden... now fully aware of his female companion's playful mood, Hiccup raised a brow at her mischievously...

"Now that's just insulting..."

Astrid laughed in response and lightly shoved at the brunette with a smile gracing her features...

"You know what I mean so shut up..."

And he did, but not before flashing a lopsided grin, at her... Hiccup wasn't actually that bothered with Astrid's name-calling, in fact, he finds it oddly comforting when she says anything other than his name... He never actually liked the name 'Hiccup' in the first place... truth be told, he didn't know the actual concept of why he was specifically named as such, he understood that that's what runts are called, but he couldn't help but hope that it was for some other reason...

"Thank you..."

He pronounced.

"It's no big deal."

Astrid tried to brush it off, but Hiccup pressed on. Hiccup was never used to expressing gratitude of any kind, so he had no idea how to do something like this properly, but isn't it the same with all Vikings? Take what you want whenever you want it? Pillage and steal and sink ships, but in the end they were still too young for their first voyage, so think of it as a coming of age sort of thing...

"No, seriously Astrid, thank you, for standing up to me earlier, you know, the dragon rights and... and for, for just, now... it really means a lot to me, you, listening to my rants, and, and it uh, means a lot to me, you know... c-cause, nobody's ever done that, well, except maybe Gobber, well he tried... but he's, he's Gobber so-..."

"Hiccup."

Astrid said suddenly, effectively making Hiccup clamp his mouth shut...

"You're rambling."

"W-was, was I?"

Astrid shot his a look, as if to say 'Do you have to ask?'. Hiccup blushed and began to rub the back of his neck and look away in embarrassment, _damn it!_

"Ah, well sorry about that, I guess this is all kind of new to me... you know someone, and I mean someone actually listening to what I have to say..."

"Well, it is a bit annoying."

The blonde said quickly before he could start another monologue...

"It is?" He asked with a horrified look on his face…

The shieldmaiden gave the brunette a long stare, which Hiccup seemed to shrink from...

"Oh come on Hiccup, you can dish it out, but you can't take it?"

"Like I said this never happened before!"

"Well then you better get used to it!"

Hiccup's smile fell at Astrid's response... he looked away from Astrid and went silent for a bit as his eyes turned downcast, he bit his lip and frowned... _Get used to it? Will there even be a chance for that?_ As if sensing her male companion's thought process, Astrid's gaze softened as she leaned forward, speaking softly with a non-nonsense voice...

"Hiccup, you know your father wouldn't let you get executed"

She told him firmly, Hiccup returned her gaze, but the emotion it portrayed was that of someone unsure, Hiccup had no idea what to do... it used to be what he believed, but who's to say he wasn't mistaken?

"Do I really, Astrid? I mean I live under his roof, I know he knows I'm there, and he's supposed to be my dad, but I feel that our relationship was not that of father and son..."

Hiccup said with a weak voice, it both broke Astrid's heart and at the same time irritated her...

"You know that's not true... your father loves you, and you love him, don't you?"

Hiccup kept silent, as if to drown her words in it, he looked away from her, not wanting to deal with the questions she had...

"Don't you?"

She pressed on, practically growling... it terrified Hiccup to the point that he felt like he must answer...

"I-I don't know" Hiccup squeaked...

"Do you hate him?"

"I think..." Hiccup replied just for the sake of replying...

"You think but you're not sure."

"Can we just drop the subject? Please..."

Hiccup practically begged, desperate for a change of subject, his and his father's relationship has always been a sore spot for Hiccup... he used to confide in Gobber, but it seemed nothing went through the one-legged smith, so he gave up on it, choosing to bottle it up instead... he'd gladly deal with anything else... just not this one... He looked at Astrid, pleading her with his eyes...

"Alright... I give in... for now anyway..."

She sighed, silence fell on the couple, coming back but something else came back with it, it was accompanied by awkwardness... Hiccup tried to distract himself by looking down on his dangling feet and swinging them, while Astrid busied herself with sharpening her axe with a rock, who knows when she picked it up or when she pulled it out...

"About that dragon..."

Finding the awkwardness unbearable, Astrid struck up a conversation... at first she didn't know where she was going with this, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she remembered the conversation they had prior to the one about the Chief...

"What dragon?" Hiccup says, still staring at his dangling limbs...

"The Night Fury..." Astrid spared him a glance and continued with her axe...

"What's a Night Fury?" Feigning innocence, Hiccup tried to change the topic… Failing miserably, who didn't know what a Night Fury was? Astrid halted her activities and glared at the other teen with irritation.

"Hiccup."

She warned him with a tone that indicated she didn't want to be messed with...

"W-what?"

"You're not getting out of this one; I won't let you... why, as you have said so yourself, wouldn't you kill that dragon?"

"Astrid..." Hiccup drawled.

"Hiccup." Astrid answered firmly, Hiccup sighed, exasperated and looked away, rubbing the back of his head anxiously, ruffling his hair, before speaking up again...

"I, I just... I saw how he looked at me..."

Astrid kept staring at him as if to say "That's not enough"...

"It, well, it wasn't anything like killing a bear for pelt, or a, a rabbit for food... it actually seemed more human if nothing else... it- no, he... He had emotions, Astrid, I could see them clear as day, it was like looking at myself from a different angle... I saw myself in him, now I know that doesn't make sense to you, but I just..."

Hiccup fell silent, frustrated that he couldn't find the words and looked down...

"It seemed more human to you than your own tribe..." Astrid finished for him...

The brunette shot the shieldmaiden a glance and then looked down...

"Hey, I'm not saying that I'm alright with you comparing us to some reptile, believe me, it is a bit offensive... But I saw how the others treat you, now I'm not saying I'm any better–..."

"Astrid you did nothing wrong" Hiccup cut in...

"–but! But I did nothing right either...we're Vikings we're not known for good behaviour, but the way you were treated... I guess it's understandable that you can relate to a dragon more than you can your own tribe... since we never actually seemed to have treated you as human to begin with... and I'm sorry, I knew it wasn't right, and I feel bad... I mean I was the first to notice actually, and it doesn't take a genius to know that the change could have started with me..."

"Could, but you had a reputation at stake, there were things you could've lost if you actually did step up... defending a runt isn't something smiled upon here..."

"Defending a runt won't change who I am, Hiccup..."

At Astrid's response, Hiccup found himself unable to form words, speechless... he was silent for a moment before he smiled and looked at her coyly...

"You've put a lot of thought into that speech, haven't you?"

Astrid returned the smile...

"Maybe… So... what are you going to do now?"

"I've had... something in mind..."

"Oh please, do tell!"

Before he could say another word, a loud horn resounded throughout the village that made both of the teens snap to attention...

"Looks like this is it..."

Hiccup says grimly and stood up, smile fading quickly... seeing that, Astrid reached out to him and grasped his arm, stopping him from taking a step away... with a steely expression, Astrid tightened her grip and spoke...

"Hey, don't lose hope..."

Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, but seeing the blonde shieldmaiden's expression, he slowly closed his lips… and settled for an curt "Don't worry" as he pulled his arm out of her grasp, he turned around taking long slow steps, and just when Astrid was out of earshot, he continued with a resigned voice and whispered to himself...

"I didn't have any to begin with..."

Feeling more fear than he initially had, he trudged towards the village...

* * *

 **A/n: (** well, it's actually more of a short story than a note... but really, my eccentricity just won't stop giving me ways to do stuff like these... if you're curious, it's actually mainly about mine and Cupcakes interactions in PMs **)**

"Bad puns and Teenagers"

As Blue663 sat there staring at the screen, a window was spread out harboring 19 tabs... among them was the 10th tab which had a cut off 'F' on it, which supposedly stands for 'Fanfiction'... usually she'd settle in for fifteen tabs, but prior to her current engagement, she just couldn't help but indulge herself in the abundance of Spider-Man and HTTYD fanfics...

Not to mention the need for knowledge about Viking culture and Norse Mythology, cause let's face it, she didn't know squat about any of it... she loves reading sure, but that was only limited to what she was reading about, she doesn't listen to anything unless the topic amused her and that includes reading...

But enough about that, let's talk about what she was doing NOW... the scantily dressed female leaned her head onto the mass of pillows, she was actually still in her bedroom and been there since after brunch and snacks, laying, limbs sprawling on top of the mattress, at times like these she was thankful for the existence of laptops, who was it again? Bill Moggridge? Arigatou Bill! Your existence and creation are greatly appreciated! And yes, she googled it… Blue lets out a tired sigh, she was tired, hungry, but was too lazy to get ass off her bed, out her room, down the stairs, to get some dinner down her gullet, calling her lazy would be an understatement, she absolutely hated anything that required her to stand... even peeing...

She stares at the stream of messages which numbered up to a hundred and sixty-eight, oh, wait, make that a hundred and sixty-nine... she was currently messaging Dragonbow117, her Beta and No. 1 Favorite among fanfiction people, and if you asked, she'd probably admit that the story above this was practically his as much as it was hers… and no, this was not romance people! God! You just had to think of something that was just convenient regarding the circumstances, didn't you?

They were exchanging messages about the next chapter until the topic digressed to their favorite 'Ship' and by 'Ship', it meant Hiccstrid…

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[ **Dragonbow117:** I'm midway through editing Uttie. And I think spark is an adequate name for it XD I mean it is technically the "spark" of all the events to come to light if you think about it, not to mention the spark of Hiccstrid as it seems. And yeah, thanks for throwing me a bone, being a Hiccstrid hard-shipper and all... XD]

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Dragonbow117 said partly, and that got blue thinking… she was actually as much as a Hiccstrid shipper as Cupcake –she sometimes calls him Cupcake –but during her early days in FF, she remembered reading one that was NOT Hiccstrid… she grimaced at the memory, making her stomach do flips, and she shuddered… yeah, not gonna happen, ever again… it wasn't actually all that bad as a fanfic, she could say it was a piece of work, but everytime she remembered it not being Hiccstrid, she just wanted to curl up and cry… and no, that was not a joke… she turned to the keyboard and began to type…

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[ **Blue663:** Yeah, I barely read any HTTYD fanfic unless it was Hiccstrid... although, I think I remembered reading a non-Hiccstrid once... I guess it got buried under all the shipping and is probably never to be seen again... considering the number of stories I've followed/favorited... it actually made my heart ache, knowing they weren't gonna be together in every paragraph I read and I just ended up abandoning it... it hurt me so badly... TT^TT

Ps: I'm gonna be throwing you lotsa bones in the future... try not to choke on them... XD]

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[ **Dragonbow117:** Yeah, I don't know what it is about Hiccstrid, but it's basically one of the only ships I am h*** about. And yes I agree wholeheartedly, when I read things that aren't Hiccstrid, (A lot of the times it could just be the description) i feel a pang when it's not Hiccstrid. But I comfort myself in knowing that the ship has cannons (get it? because the ship is canon badum tss!) and it can fend off the mutlitudes of bad fanficiton. (I pretend these people don't know how to write based purely of their relationship preferences, how mature.)

That being said, I understand people don't ship them so I swallow the bitter pill when it does happen XD.

Ps: It's okay I'm great at swallowing bones! (I legit typed that out and it took me to RE-READ it to realise my unintentional innuendo. And I'm laughing so hard at the fact I didn't catch it that it's going to stay there) So yeah, I... won't choke... I was going for something decent I swear!]

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Blue snickered a little and thought about the last part… here's a fact guys, Blue663's a teenager, and teenagers aren't exactly immune to thoughts that are… indecent… you could say she was a bit slow on the take, whatever… but the thing that came to mind was… BJ…

"Ew! Ew, ew, ew, ew, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!"

She hurriedly typed down on the keyboard with a tapping sound…

.

[ **Blue663:** Yes, yes, it's also the reason why I hate OCs... whenever I see OC listed among the main characters I cringe and look away, especially when it is beside Hiccup in shipping brackets... NO ONE deserves to BE in the shipping brackets WITH Hiccup UNLESS it was Astrid!? NO ONE! XP

Ps: Okay... but just for precaution, wash your mouth with soap... I so did not want that image in my mind... thanks a lot... -_-"]

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[ **Dragonbow117:** Full-heartedly agreed, while I'm okay with the occasional OC, Being in a ship with Hiccup is... Just no! (I guess I have to excuse cami, as she has first dibs, but thats BOOK hiccup, as Book!Hiccup and Movie!Hiccup are completely different people so..)

Ps: Mouth is thoroughly washed, apologies for the imagery, I hope you don't mind that the soap is more sanitizer, I think that should still do the trick.]

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There was more to the message, but Blue won't show you; for DB's sake… hey, that could make for a fine new nickname!

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[ **Blue663:** yeah, yeah, so anyway, message to the readers...]

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[ **Dragonbow117:** While reading this story, if you feel the need to get any refreshments, just ask the flight attendant that will magically appear next to you for said refreshments. (The bill is on Blue, Enjoy) Disclaimer: No flight attendant will appear.]

.

[ **Dragonbow117:** Yup. That's exactly what I want you to say.]

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Seeing that, the young teen let out a chuckle, smiling wickedly and turned to type on the keyboard…

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[ **Blue663:** Sure…]

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[ **Dragonbow117:** That "Sure" was rather enigmatic in it's meaning. I mean come on, that is totally the perfect thing to say to all the readers!]

.

Blue663 laughed at his response, and really guys… he truly got what he wanted… just more than what he bargained for… :)

* * *

Anyway, see you **next month**... **leave reviews** , boredom was initially the reason why wrote this short story... I can get by with the things you guys say about what I write, just tell me what was wrong or what was right... what you liked about this chapter and what you hate, **please**...


	4. Chapter 4 - Lies

**Guys, sorry...**

 **There was a bit of a situation with the Docx, resulting in Cupcake not being able to send back his edited version...**

 **And there was school, finals, and now; here's your chapter that's long been overdue... seriously guys, put down the pitchforks, it's the least you could do for my birth-month... right?**

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 **UpDATES**

Chapter 1 – 05/31/2015

Chapter 2 – 06/19/2015

Chapter 3 – 07/18/2015

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Chapter 4 – 10/6/2015

 **.**

 **Chapter Four**

"Truth"

Once he was sure he was a safe distance away from the shield-maiden; Hiccup slowly crumpled onto the ground like a poorly built sandcastle under the barrage of relentless waves licking the edges and taking him apart with every lap... his carefully maintained facade tearing away as his eyes begin to sting from unshed tears, leaving behind a frightened sixteen-year-old terrified and uncertain of his future…

It was true… everything he told Astrid was true…

It was his future, it mattered to him what their decision would be... but he didn't allow himself to further expose his emotions to the young blonde… he harboured feelings for her, he will not allow himself to appear even weaker than he already has… so he delved no further into their discussion…

It was not unexpected, true, all these years always felt like a dream he was just waiting to wake up from, it was no, good dream, nor was it a nightmare... it was just something that was... there…

And every second felt borrowed… Stolen… Not his to spend, his life felt like a debt he can't repay nor enjoy... a sculpture withering away while it stood, abandoned, every piece that fell off was hollowing him out from the inside while the pressure from the outside just kept pushing, waiting for him to cave in, collapse under his own weight…

Hiccup really desperately needed support, Astrid tried, really, but she barely even knows him... and for one thing, she's his crush so Hiccup wouldn't actually know much about how to act around her other than being uncomfortably awkward...

Sometimes he can't help but wonder... if his mom was here, would things be different?

The auburn haired youth really can't remember much about his mother, so he doesn't know anything about her... he only knew stories about her from others... but the villagers were never very good at hiding their emotions or attitudes towards others… Despite her being deceased… And it hurt... it hurt so bad listening to the stories about someone that was supposed to be _his_ mother... and what hurt the most was that his father tried to ignore the fact that he even had a wife... much less a son…

They say he loved her; he loved her too much and mourned her everyday...

Hiccup understands the need to mourn, but what he can't understand is the way he chose to mourn... he avoided looking at him in the eye; it was like he treated _Hiccup_ as _Valka_... sure his father looked at him… Everyone did… But it was like they didn't see a son to a father.

They looked at him... and saw _Valka_ …

 _"Dragon sympathizer…"_

 _"Just like his mother."_

And in those moments Hiccup hated no one more than Valka... He blames her! It was her fault! Why in middle earth did she think it was a good idea to give birth to him!? Him! A Hiccup! The village runt! He loathed his mother for bearing him, for her reputation... and for Not. Being. There!

And for fifteen years he just sat there, being compared to her... he wanted to so desperately tell them that he was nothing like her... but he couldn't...

Because they were right…

Hiccup supposes it's not really fair to blame a dead person... he can accuse all he wants without the one involved having the capability to justify themselves, or even correct their mistakes, after all...

They can't do anything more than stay dead...

Hiccup let out a shuddering breath but refused to let the tears fall…

 _"I probably would've done a better job… I mean, why couldn't I? If Hiccup could do it, I could do better."_

 _"Anyone could do better than Hiccup…"_

Biting his lip, Hiccup fell to his knees, he leant forward and hunched over the ground with his arms holding him up, feeling the moist soil cake into fabric and coat his hands…

 _"Wha' are ye doin'!?"_

 _"Wha right do ye ave ta kill it?"_

 _"A half-pint like ye dos no' deserve da honor!"_

"No..." He whispered, and further sunk his teeth onto his lip, drawing blood... but the pain was only a prick at most compared to what he was going through... their words pierced his soul, and no amount of bleeding could kill something that was not physical…

 _"This is the end, Night Fury… I win…"_

"No." He sobbed with no tears as lowered his head and clutched it with muddy hands…

 _I saw emotion…_

"Make it stop..." he whimpered as the memory of the dragon's eyes flashed through his mind... he shook his head as if to dispel the thoughts… the images running through his head… it didn't work…

 _"Why?"_

He began to pull at his hair... the accusation in those eyes was just too much to bear... the way his father looked at him, eyes with emotions like betrayal, fury, and grief meshed together like one big whirlpool of regret…

 _"Did you single me out just to ask that?"_

He didn't mean to say those words... he didn't mean to snap at his Dad... his Dad, his father deserved none of it… it was all Hiccup's fault really… he was the one who caught the dragon… he was the one who set it free…

 _"Please Hiccup…"_

His father pleaded, but it pained Hiccup to see him so broken... it hurt too much to be the cause of someone else's pain…

 _It took my all to keep myself from chuckling sardonically at my father much less avoid a sneer… he seemed to have misunderstood, I wanted to get to the Village elders so that I could vent…_

That was a lie... he just didn't want to face his father... he was a coward! He convinced himself that everything was as it should be... but it was a lie... He was a lie! And he knew it, they both knew... he was weak… so, so weak, he just pretended he wasn't…

 _"Wow, this must be my lucky day… I got 'Stoick the Vast' begging."_

Stop begging... why-oh-why was his dear father begging? And what's worse, he was the recipient of the pleading… he doesn't deserve any of this…

 _"No, Hiccup, you don't understand… after what you did back there, that is no laughing matter, son… they won't just let that go, they'd be asking for an execution!"_

Don't look at me like that!? Please!? It's making it harder for me to hate you!?

He understands… he understands quite clearly…

 _"A life destroyed where it was conjured… seems fitting."_

It's fitting… very fitting… he's had just about enough of this… of everything…

 _"Hiccup…"_

The disappointment…

 _"Dad, it's to be expected… you and I both know that it was only a matter of time before they decide to get rid of me…"_

 _"All I did was cut the waiting short…"_

It was a front... all of it was just a front... a lie he wrapped himself with to hide from those who wished to harm... he was trying to protect those he considered dear…

 _He had a better life, now, he's about to lose it to some miserable, puny, creature that was thought low of by even his own people …_

But he ended up hurting the ones who didn't deserve it…

And got hurt in the process…

 _I did this…_

Hiccup opened his mouth as a sob escaped him, and that was all it needed for the whole dam to break…

.

"Where is he!?"

"Do you think he turned tail and ran?"

"Tha' troublemaker? Most likely..."

"What if something happened to him?"

"Good riddance..."

"Is no' like da village needs a runt like tha'"

Stoick lets out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed a hand down his face, it has approximately been an hour and a half since the first blow of the assembly horn, and a good quarter since the last, but still; no Hiccup... he gazed at the crowd worryingly looking for the boy, but not a trace of auburn was to be found... as much as Stoick understands the boy's reluctance in going through with his sentence, Stoick would much rather know what his son was up to…

Granted, he probably wouldn't be able to do much for his son... but it hurts much more; not knowing…

Stoick rapped a finger on the armrest as he leaned back into his throne; he did another sweep through the crowd before catching sight of the smithy as he, again, let out another sigh... Stoick was really having a hard time sorting out his emotional turmoil; it was at times like these that he really wished the Blacksmith was here…

Suddenly feeling years older, Stoick frowned... truly, having a son was exhausting and difficult, also add to the fact that he will lose the said son after this, made it that much more difficult, Stoick's down gazing at the ground as he felt his stomach drop and his chest constrict... it hurt, by Thor, these past few hours were nothing but sorrow and pain for Stoick... now –he began to wonder –what would Hiccup be feeling right now?

By the Gods, he was about to banish his own son, probably to leave him in the middle of nowhere, what with winter approaching, he'd probably be better off dead…

Stoick gripped the armrest, Odin, he was a terrible father... thinking of death as a mercy for his son…

His grip tightened until he felt the wood under his hand cave in with his death-grip... and as soon as he felt the first crack of wood, several gasps were heard amongst the crowd... bewildered, he looked up from his ground-burning glare expecting the attention, but none of them were looking at him... bewildered Stoick followed their gazes, and was met with a horrifying sight... thousands upon thousands of winged beasts were headed this way... Stoick cursed and started barking out orders…

But the villagers kept on staring at the skies in uncertainty, as if in denial, not believing what they were seeing…

Stoick turned to his second in command with grim determination…

"Sound the battle horn"

Spitelout nodded once then ran off, not long after a horn throughout the island…

The villagers, as if snapping out of a trance, scrambled away to retrieve their weapons and readying the catapults... their reaction time was a little slower than usual, and Stoick does not blame them, raids usually happened early in mornings and sometimes at night, but never when the sun was shining overhead, assuming the reptiles knew that it was simply too disadvantageous for them, seeing as they'd be spotted at a distance... at least, that was how it used to be…

And, Odin, the sheer number of the beasts was enough to make even Stoick reel back in shock... their numbers have tripled, and he'd bet his mutton that, the phrase could very well be so much as considered an understatement…

Stoick ran towards the direction of the nearest watchtower keeping an iron grip on his weapon...

.

Worry ate at Astrid like the plague... she rolled to the side, hiding behind a cart to avoid a stream of magnesium blast as she clutched her axe, she sprang up, using her free hand, she gripped the side of the cart –praying to the gods it would handle her weight and stay upright –and flung herself over her hiding place, somersaulting over the obstacle before making a beeline for her assailant, she ducked as another rush of flame flew overhead…

She couldn't find Hiccup anywhere... Astrid side-stepped to the right to avoid a claw, letting it slice through thin air, using her body as an axis point, and the weight of her axe as momentum; Astrid dug a heel into the ground and gripped her axe tighter as she twirled around making her axe almost fly out of her hand –if not for her tight grip –with a diagonal path down onto one of the creatures wings and a little applied upper body strength Astrid felt her blade penetrate the dragon's hide and cut through bone, it's painful shriek echoed throughout the village and was suddenly cut off when Astrid sunk her blade into its neck, slicing the throat making the creature choke on its own blood…

Astrid took a moment to gaze at her work, she didn't hate the overgrown reptiles, but she couldn't bring herself to sympathize with them either... she just couldn't understand why Hiccup was so adamant about these things having emotions when all they did was raid them for food... she knows how he felt, of course, but that didn't mean she understood... Astrid frowned and shook her head as she turned dashing away from the Nadder corpse…

Astrid zig-zagged through the village, avoiding the many ongoing battles; she quickly scanned through the chaos hoping to catch a glimpse of the auburn haired youth she was just with a couple of hours ago…

Astrid's brows furrowed, she knew it was not so, but she just couldn't help but feel responsible for Hiccup's absence as it seemed she was the last person he came in contact with after they separated... a Zippleback landed a few meters in front of her, but she didn't stop nor did she slow down from her dash, but instead, ran faster as she took the gap between the two necks to her advantage and jumped in between, –lopping off one of the heads in the process –Astrid swung a one-eighty with her axe slashing horizontally and cutting off the remaining head…

She didn't care which head sparked or gassed at the moment, currently, there was just one thought running rampant through her mind; whether Hiccup was alright... she stood up taking a moment to catch her breath, the raid didn't sit well with her... the dragons didn't seem to be after their livestock, so far the beasts have left the yaks, sheep, and chickens alone, focusing solely on the armed villagers… Curious, especially considering they supposedly had emotions and all. They seemed rather helbent on genocide.

Astrid looked up from her musings and spotted a Gronckle zipping through the air heading for her with its mouth glowing, ready to fire, Astrid's eyes widened at the sight, and her eyes darted from left to right and eventually catching sight of a shield lying a few feet from her, it was battle worn but still seemed to be in good shape... she stole one last glance at the bumbling mass and leaped off towards the shield, a streak of lava splashed on the spot she was in just a second ago…

Astrid sprinted to the shield and held it up in front of her, letting it take the shot that was supposed to be for her... it held, which made her give out a low whistle in appreciation… that shield is quite sturdy, despite taking a blow in close range and already scorched in more places than one, it was still pretty much still in one piece… Astrid took a peek over the shield just in time to see the reptile ready the next shot, she reflexively ducked back into the shield, but before she could, a bola wrapped around the dragon's wings, clipping them together, throwing off the Gronckle's aim…

Astrid didn't take the time to look for the source of the help much less thanked them as she darted in between the houses with her axe and shield on each hand…

She had a brunette to find…

.

Hiccup sat upright from his position, he wasn't sure how much time has passed, how many horns were blown, he didn't know... all he knew was that he had to get up and moving but couldn't find the energy, his knees felt weak, arms are too heavy, much like lead… Is it really worth it to move, and simply just to let them kill him?

Running away was not an option; how will he get off the island without a boat? It's not like he can just steal one from the docks, even though his navigational skills were exemplary –years of exploring the forests, and he has yet to experience being lost –he was never good at being sneaky; his stealth skills leave much to be desired... He probably couldn't even sneak a terror into the village, even if it were the dead of the night, not without being spotted before he even takes the first step out of the forest…

Much less successfully steal a boat…

And if he stays on the island, it would just be a matter of time before he's discovered... so any attempts at escaping are out…

With a sigh that screamed pure unadulterated exhaustion, Hiccup ran a hand through his hair and let it settle on the small of his neck before looking up... he stiffened as his eyes widen at the sight.

"What in miðgarðr..." Hiccup muttered, slowly he began to pick himself up from the ground, not tearing his eyes from the spectacle that was; clouds of black smoke floating towards the sky... a little worried, but he knew they wouldn't need his contribution if thing were indeed as bad as they seem... he'll probably just make it worse…

But still; it wouldn't hurt to check…

Hiccup was just beginning to dust off the dirt from his clothes when he heard something... a rustling in the bushes that made him pause… sucking in breath, Hiccup slowly turned to look at the quivering leaves…

As if sudden movements were a cause for concern, he warily made way to the bushes… but the he felt something grip him at the scruff and got yanked backwards… away from the bushes, Hiccup gasped as his hands all but flew to his neck on reflex, as if to lessen the pressure on his throat… his butt landed on the ground with a resounding, thud, that made it throb a bit… he did not yelp… not at all…

Well maybe he did… in a manly way, mind you…

Hiccup moved to get up again, ready to defend from the aggressor, only to be shoved back down and straddled by a very angry, very scowling, blonde beauty who he swore he knew if he wasn't dazed from the shock of processing that he was being straddled… moreover, he was being straddled by a girl, nevermind the girl was being terrifying and 'all glares' at him right now, but she was beautiful, so Hiccup can't seem to mind the glare, he just couldn't stop staring absently, he's still trying wrap his mind around the fact that someone was straddling him willingly without much prompting from the othe–

"WHERE IN NINE REALMS WERE YOU!?" the blonde bellowed into his face…

Hiccup was snapped from his daze with that shout, and he thinks he can recognize the owner of that scowl now… Hiccup opens his mouth to answer the question…

"Astri–"

"Do you have _any_ idea what I went through to find you!?"

"–I–"

"Do you have a death wish? That's it! You do don't you!?"

"–nee–"

"You could have been dying in a ditch somewhere without a care!?"

Hiccup flashes her; his own version of a scowl but she didn't seem to notice, how in middle earth does she expect him to answer her when she keeps cutting him off every time he opens his mouth? He couldn't even get a word in edgewise... Of course there's the possibility of the questions being completely rhetorical…

"ASTRID!" Hiccup snapped…

But regretted it not long after and ended up flinching at the glare that was directed his way… Definitely rhetorical. Okay, maybe it wasn't a good idea to snap at Astrid when she's already mad... rephrase; it's never a good idea to snap at Astrid, period…

"Can-can you just c-calm down a minute and just tell me what's going on?"

Hiccup queried frantically, trying to pacify the fury running rampant within the confines of those sapphires, following up with a "well, and uhh, maybe, get off of me too... c-cause this position is kind of uncomfortable..." as more of a squeak than a suggestion…

Astrid narrowed her eyes and made Hiccup go all stiff under her. A moment later Astrid complied with the request, moved off of Hiccup, and stood up…

The two of them remained silent for a certain amount of time, Hiccup, too afraid to say something that might put off the shieldmaiden, and just when he began to doubt she'd ever answer…

"A Raid..." she says, voice low…

"A raid?" a pause "In the middle of the day!?" Hiccup asks incredulously…

"Yes! A Raid!?" she bursts out in frustration…

"But, but isn't that too dangerous for the dragons? N-not that I'm concerned for them or anything, but don't they know that daylight can serve as warning for us enough that the artillery can get prepared before they even reach Berk? They can get spotted miles away!"

Hiccup tried to reason, unsure of whom he was trying to convince at the moment when the odds are so clearly not in his favour... he was trying to make sense of it all... how can anyone just process such level of foolhardiness... just then he was struck with the urge to smack himself with the pure hypocrisy of the fact; it's not like he's any better after all... he heard Astrid sigh…

"Hiccup, I don't know if you're aware –although considering your set of questions; proves you're not –the sheer number of them… I'd hate to say but _we're_ at a disadvantage right now…"

Hiccup opened his mouth, but couldn't find any words... the teen closed his jaw, and was seemingly physically groping for words to offer his companion... he stares worriedly at Astrid…

"How many?" he croaked…

Astrid stares back, a frown painted on her face…

"I don't think _many_ will even cut it… the headcount probably exceeds that of what we're used to…"

Hiccup managed to croak out a strangled –"Odin ..." –in distressed disbelief, not trusting himself to be coherent to say anything of value… he knew –even if not from experience –that even if the dragons were to attack midday, it wouldn't matter, but if their count were to exceed a certain number, they're pretty much doomed…

Vikings are not invincible…

As if sensing his thoughts, Astrid looked down in silent agreement, eventually leading to a lull in the conversation none of them seemed to have noticed, but they really can't bring themselves to care all that much... they were too drowned in their own thoughts to point out anything at the moment… just then, an explosion disrupted their musing, making Hiccup jump, and Astrid turn to the direction of the village and scowl…

"Let's go..." Astrid all but whispered, but just loud enough for Hiccup to hear…

"Where?" Hiccup asked helplessly…

He didn't know what to do at that point –he's pretty sure anywhere they'd go would be in complete and utter chaos if the explosions were anything to go by –but then; neither did Astrid…

"Somewhere..." She trailed off a bit, confusion evident in her voice as she tried to think of an answer, but can't seem to find one… "I don't know! Somewhere _not_ here, somewhere I can keep an eye on you!" Astrid all but screamed in exasperation all the while jumping on the balls of her feet, ready to spring at moment's notice,

Astrid shook her head to try to stay calm but then decided she couldn't stay any longer, she went over to a tree where a battle-worn shield was leaning onto, picked it up then stomped ahead, Hiccup was about to follow, but still seemed rooted on the spot, he turned to where he detected movement in the bushes earlier... he was curious, it can't be anything small... but it also can't be anything big... at least not as big as just as a normal dragon, but nowhere near as small as a fox either... the auburn haired youth took one step towards the bushes…

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup flinched at the harshness of Astrid's voice... he turned to look at her, but the shieldmaiden was not in sight, guessing she'd be a ways away from him by now, it would probably be best not to keep her waiting any longer… sending one last stolen glance at the bushes, the brunette ran after the female blonde with a slight reluctance in his gait…

Unaware of the set of green eyes peering within the shadows of the bushes...

* * *

 **A/n:**

Wow…

Toothless…

Stalker much?

I almost forgot about the shield Astrid picked up on the way...

.

"Unreasonable Aunts being unreasonable"

The wind howled throughout the night drifting through gaps, it flowed from block to block making trees rustle as it made its way throughout the night, it passed a particular house where a female adolescent lingered just outside, she was crouched over an outdoor sink...

With a height of 5'4, her hair was straight, black at the very roots while it gradually faded from the middle to the tips into brown, its length reached just below her waistline hovering a few inches above her tailbone... and if asked, she'd swear to you; that she never had dye nor bleach near her hair before...

The wind brushed past, whispering meaningless noises into her ear and playfully blowing her hair in disarray... the youth grumbled incoherent curses as she tried to brush a few strands out of her face with a lathered hand, she frowned when soap stuck to a few wayward locks, but then shrugged it off in favour of scrubbing the ceramic plate currently in hand...

It has become somewhat of a habit, after eating, she'd gather up empty plates, or ones that were not in use that needed cleaning, and wash them... although it was clear the female did not enjoy the prospect of getting her hands wet in cleaning dining utensils that other people licked or placed in their saliva slicked mouths, they didn't even finish some of their food! The least they could do is scrape it off and dump it on the dog!? The black-haired youth thought ruefully, scrubbing the poor surface of the plate a little harder than necessary...

Somewhere during the furious scrubbing, a woman in her forties emerged from the doorway carrying a few extra plates...

"(Insert name here), earlier (Insert different name here) mopped the floor without being asked... why don't _you_ ever do your chores voluntarily?"

The youth stopped abusing the plate and gave her an unamused look with her brow raised, silently trying to relay the message "You're seriously telling me this while I'm washing the dishes before you even asked me?" it woefully went unnoticed as the woman just turned her back and returned inside...

 _I really want to chuck this plate of YOURS that I'm scrubbing at your head..._

The teen turned around glowering at her work and went to scrubbing at a different plate more furiously than before...

 _Un-fuckin-believable!_

True story...

.

Hiccstrid next chapter... think you can handle it?

Leave reviews... please...


	5. Chapter 5 - Incentive

**Berkians are idiots...**

 **Seriously Astrid... Sweetheart, as much as I love you, not everyone's out to get you... this story isn't even about you... well, there is a lot of you in it, but it's mostly Hiccup...**

 **.**

 **So, here she is folks! My Brainchild!**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

"Incentive"

There was no other way to describe this…

The moment the pair stepped foot into the village, they were met with a view that screamed nothing but chaos and destruction...

The flames licked the sides of Viking homes, wood cracking as the fire ate away what was left of it, ashes flitted across the terrain akin to how snowflakes roamed in the winter, bodies littered the scorched ground, some still warm as others have gone cold, a few up in flames... there was the occasional body that can be anything but recognizable, charred to a crisp and foul stenches reaching olfactory senses, one cannot be even sure whether they be Viking or dragon... bile immediately went to rise up to Hiccup's throat as a response, inciting the urge to vomit... the sun was barely visible through the clouds of smoke, although Hiccup didn't need to see to know…

The battle was still ongoing…

A great explosion shook the village as a building blew up, scattering debris of splinters, and fiery embers in random directions, causing Astrid into a crouch while putting herself in between Hiccup and lifting her shield to the front protecting the both of them from shrapnel as the brunette let out a surprised squeak. Completely disregarding embarrassing sound, the both of them stood horrified at the sight... so much destruction, caused by beasts with fiery breaths... and to think Hiccup was able to stop one of them only to release it and enable it to add more to the discord…

He could've prevented at least one of them…

Hiccup choked on the grief for those whose lives were lost among the canopy of destruction, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt awash his very being, the threat of it drowning him lay underneath…

Hiccup shook himself out of his self-destructive thoughts when he felt Astrid advance into the inferno that was their village, Astrid sprinted; dodging battles like a pro all the while Hiccup stumbled after her, making utmost effort to keep his legs under him... whether or not Astrid noticed his stumbles, Hiccup was just glad she didn't comment and simply pretended not to notice... They reached the Forge and Hiccup halted his run... a few steps ahead was when Astrid finally noticed her lack of tail, she turned to the brunette with an expression of reproach.

"Hiccup"

Astrid started off with a harsh bite to her tone, but when Hiccup didn't answer and instead opted to hesitantly tear his gaze away from the building sending her a helpless glance, she immediately felt all the anger dissipate; only to be replaced by confusion, suddenly feeling like her anger was unfounded…

"What is it?"

Astrid asked and followed his gaze when he went back to eyeing the smithy, Astrid narrowed her eyes when they both landed on what Hiccup was eyeing, her nose wrinkled; a small inquisitive noise escaped her lips... Scrapped weapons –or metal, it really just depends on how you view them –swords, axes, maces, and hammers all laid there abandoned as damaged equipment should be... some even missing their blades and the size of the heap is not something to scoff at, nor is the condition of disrepair, they all simply piled up like garbage…

While the smithy stood lifeless and empty, a few of its walls were ripped down or had holes scorched through, with one last look at the auburn haired youth, the shield-maiden suddenly reached an epiphany…

"Do you need help?"

Hiccup's eyes widened slightly, clearly puzzled…

"You want to help... me?"

Astrid's lips pursed at the pause in the sentence, she mentally shrugged it off and went inside through the closest large hole she could find, squeezing herself through, since the door was on another side…

Once inside, Astrid's gaze swept through the place, taking in the sight of the smithy, she put down the shield she was holding, letting it lean to a nearby wall. She finds that it is completely stripped of its' contents; empty shelves, bare walls, even the spare blades were raided... she guesses the tools were left alone out of respect for its' owner... she can't help but inhale the scent of the place…

It reeked of burnt metal, coal, ashes, smoke, and a lingering touch of mint from grass and forest leaves, which oddly enough, reminds her of Hiccup... unsurprisingly, that didn't bother her at all. If you consider the time the lad spent in solitude, with only the forge and the idle flora as a constant... Hiccup has come to adopt their scents, and that does not come as a surprise to Astrid... there wasn't much to their newly established friendship and unspoken truce…

But Astrid knew it was worth having…

Her heart skipped a beat when a thud echoed from behind, accompanied by an exclamation of 'oof!', it didn't take more than a second to deduct what caused it... Astrid schooled her features from her surprise, erasing traces of being caught unawares…

She can't help but internally commend Hiccup though, for a clumsy oaf, he sure is silent... that, or Astrid was simply too deep in her thoughts to notice... she turned to the brunette with a raised brow, Astrid was then greeted by the sight of Hiccup sprawled on the ground, foot hooked on the base of the hole, his face planted on the ground…

The teen looked up from his position and made a face at the sight of Astrid, cheeks and nose a little red, whether it was for blushing or the result of face planting, Astrid had no idea…

"Glad my pain amuses you..." Hiccup drawled…

Astrid paused and was suddenly all too aware of the corners of her lips being raised into an amused smirk, she bit her lip to suppress the grin, but couldn't help it from widening into a smile smile when Hiccup stuttered out 'a little help please?' raising his hands up to Astrid in a grabby gesture...

The blonde went over and grabbed a handful of the brunette's shirt, hoisting him up with a bit of effort... Hiccup flashed Astrid a pout as he took off his vest and dusted himself off…

"You have got to stop doing that..."

He said bemused while making his way to the other side of the room, pulling out two leather aprons handing one of them to Astrid; she took it without question as Hiccup went for the door, opening it to drag the damaged assortment of weapons inside…

"Doing what?"

Astrid asked the youth, –just as he was looking at the weapons for ways to repair –amusement still clearly there as she tied the strings of the apron behind the back of her neck... the brunette sent her a glare and pointed a crooked knife at her, apron already worn…

"Lifting me up like I'm some sort of flimsy ragdoll, or underweighted teen."

Astrid raised a brow at that, still smirking... Hiccup froze and seemed to reconsider his words for a bit and frowned to himself…

"...or maybe I am –the second part –but that doesn't mean you can rub it in!"

Hiccup said agitated, and went back to examining the weapons separating the cracked ones, form the bent ones, and the ones that needed sharpening... Astrid let out a hum in response and approached the sorted pile…

"So, what do you need help with?"

Hiccup gave her an unreadable look and turned to the pile of weapons that was neither cracked nor bent, but with edges a little blunt for blades and had a few scars marring the metal…

"Can you sharpen those? I need to get the fire going to fix the rest..." Hiccup said pointing at the group with sword missing half of its blade... he took a moment to process the impairment of the weapon he was holding, the brunette scowled at the sight…

"Or completely remake them..." he ground out through gritted teeth and threw it over to an empty space as he rummaged the hoard for the rest of it…

Astrid paying no heed to the auburn haired teen, scrutinized the bundle that needed sharpening and compared it to the rest…

The amount she was supposed to handle was only that of, five blades; one sword, the rest of them axes –she can't help but think Hiccup must've done this on purpose, and for that; she was grateful –while the ones that needed full on repairs numbered more than at least fifteen on each pile... that sure is a lot of work for one person, also consider the fact that she's only ever used a grindstone to sharpen weapons once, and that was only a quick tutorial when she pestered Gobber for a few additional tips on making her axe better, so eager to get ahead of her peers... Astrid shook her head and lifted her assigned stock as she scanned the place for the grindstone…

Astrid made her way through the smithy sizing up the circular stone when she caught sight of it, even from her position she can tell it was an old thing, then a sudden fear of it coming undone and sending pieces of it into her flesh materialized in her thoughts, but she dismissed it; labelling it as irrational... a mere fear of the unknown tool she was not used to…

Once there, the blonde eyed the handle and gave it a light experimental push, it didn't budge... she took a deep breath and pushed a little harder than intended, the handle moved and it threw her off balance, catching herself on the last minute she shot a glare at Hiccup…

But the teen was oblivious to what just happened, and was instead, wrapped up in his own ministrations…

Astrid felt her face heat up as she quickly righted herself and began rotating the handle, the wheel spun faster and faster, the earlier unease came back, but it was only momentary for she squashed it before it even begun to take root... The blonde shield-maiden lifted one of the axes over the spinning circular stone and tentatively bringing it to hover over the rotating tool it took a few tries before she dared to let it come in contact with the blade…

But when she did, it didn't take long for her to get the hang of it, after all, she used to come here for sharpening all the time, and not to mention she knows the feel of a good axe... when she was done with the blade, she inspected the edges and flashed Hiccup with a proud smile, –who was still oblivious –the said teen, however, had his back towards her, pounding away at a sword on top of the anvil…

Astrid shrugged and went to pick up the next blade, somehow, without Astrid's notice, Hiccup has already repaired five of the damaged arms... her competitive spirit can't help but drive her to do even better...

.

Hiccup let out a breath after his seventeenth fix and can't help his eyes getting drawn to Astrid, he completely forgot about her, he felt a little guilty about that, he always gets a little lonely when no one's there to banter with him while he works, so he end up tuning out everything and narrow his concentration down to his work... Hiccup caught himself staring, though, that didn't alarm him; he used to stare at Astrid all the time... which he admits, is a tad creepy…

Hiccup found Astrid was on her last blade. The auburn haired youth inspected the finished products with his eyes and smirked; not bad... he couldn't avoid a grin taking hold of his face as he selected some of his work that needed a good sharpening and then dumped it all on Astrid's side, the blonde was startled and quickly drew away the sword she was sharpening from the grindstone…

She sent Hiccup a withering glare, only for it to be shrugged off as the brunette picked up the sharpened items, bringing them over beside the anvil into a barrel...

.

She wants to hit him…

Astrid really wants to hit Hiccup…

But the both of them are occupied at the moment, no matter how infuriating Hiccup was being, she has to prioritize the pile Hiccup just doubled... thinking about it she switched out the sword she was just sharpening into that of an axe, gripping the handle all the while glowering at the teen...

however, the longer her glare stayed on the brunette, the harder it was for Astrid to stay mad at him…

After all, she was the one that wanted to help, and doesn't the teasing mean he's becoming more open towards her? There was also the fact that; Hiccup let her laugh at his expense with no hard feelings... The villagers used to laugh and make fun of him all the time, granted, but this, this feels different…

Astrid's gaze softened as she continued to observe Hiccup, she then began to notice something a bit odd; did Hiccup get... taller?

The shield-maiden perked up at that and examined the brunette further... true, he seemed to have acquired a couple of inches, he's probably as tall as Astrid now... –actually two inches more, but do you really think Astrid will admit to that? –his shoulders are also slightly more broad than before... there were muscles under his shirt... and he also seemed to not have that much trouble with lifting weapons…

Astrid continued to space out, staring at the brunette's shoulder blades as he moved back and forth, just when her gaze fell on his butt, a violent blush invaded the blonde's face as she tore her eyes away from the view and continued sharpening the axe in hand, however, due to the earlier distraction, her hand slipped and a chunk of the blade tore off... Astrid jumped, took a step back, and swore colourfully…

Hiccup must've heard her, since not long after that, he was by her side with a concerned look... when his eyes landed on the blade, all concerns left his face only to be replaced by amusement, seeing as he was clearly biting back a smile, Astrid's brows furrowed in response…

"Here... let me" Hiccup says amused holding out both hands

Astrid handed him the axe, expression put out…

 _What's he grinning about?_

.

Hiccup can't really stop smiling... he just can't help it, seeing the irony of the situation, thinking about the time he did the same thing to an axe... judging from Astrid's frown, he can already guess what her question would be before she even asks…

"What're you grinning about?"

"Oh, nothing… Nothing at all"

The brunette says feigning innocence as he begins removing the axe's head with the clamp...

"Hiccup, you're grinning like a loon... that's not 'nothing at all'"

Astrid narrows her eyes, arms folded across her chest, Hiccup spares her a look and goes back to going through the spare blades he made earlier in between repairs... Hiccup lifts the axe head with a 'hup!' muttered under his breath, more out of habit than actual effort…

"Trust me, it's nothing important"

 _It's not like I can tell you about the same thing happening to your own axe... I'm pretty sure you'd deck me if I did... after all, you did say it was your mother's…_

Astrid didn't look ready to believe him, he's making fun of her; that must be it! It's because prodigy, Astrid daughter of Hoffer, finally made a mistake... on something he finds as easy as breathing no less… if he thinks he could get away with this, he had another thing coming; no one undermines the daughter of Hoffer. But before Astrid had the opportunity to say anything in regards to it; Hiccup sharply looked up from his work letting out mixed signals through body language... no trace of earlier confidence left in his movements…

"Uh... hey, Astrid?" Astrid stared back with the intent to catch his next words, Hiccup had this uneasy look about him while a few of his fingers gave a nervous twitch every other second…

"Can, can I ask you a favour?" Hiccup felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment what with Astrid looking at him so attentively... he gestured to the weapons that occupied the barrel just beside the anvil…

"Can you distribute the weapons throughout the village while I finish up the rest?"

Astrid quirked a brow at that, but went to the stack with no further questions... she lifted the barrel and brought it down on a small push cart and brought it over to one of the many wheelbarrows roofed outside the smithy, most of the wheelbarrows sported damages from the raid, she was lucky to find one was shielded from the onslaught at the very back. Astrid went inside to put the cart back in place…

"And if they ask, just take the credit..." Hiccup says with fake nonchalance...

"What?" Astrid frowned, as her hand left the cart's handle, obviously revolted by the idea. Why would she want to take credit for the accomplishment that was not hers? She has no need to lie, she's done enough to prove her worth... she has no need to steal…

Astrid opened her mouth to say just that, but ended up closing it again as a thought occurred to her... the way Hiccup seemed to have drawn into himself, insecurities coming to light…

 _Anyone could do better than Hiccup…_

The blonde was suddenly struck with the inspiration to hit Ruffnut as her voice rang through... but that won't make the bite of her words hurt less... the opinion was shared by Berk as a whole, even Astrid couldn't deny she'd thought it once... who'd want anything to do with a screw-up…

She suddenly became aware of the sounds of battle and death outside of the building, she can't help but wonder absently whether they'd been there when she and Hiccup were busy, or maybe it paused when they were having a few moments to themselves... but that's a stupid thought, of course it was there all along, a battle wouldn't pause just because she wasn't aware of it... the turmoil outside was the reason they were busy in the first place…

"Please Astrid" Hiccup pleaded…

Astrid's head snapped up to look at the teen, unsure of when her gaze fell to the floor or how long she spaced out... Hiccup looked at her with uncertainty, all too similar to the helpless look he had earlier when they talked about his Dad. Reminded of the Chief Astrid was suddenly feeling the urgency of the multitudes of battles outside goading her to hurry up with the weapons and join the fray. She began to leave…

She stopped just after stepping foot outside the door and peered back inside, locking her gaze at with the auburn-haired youth…

"I'll distribute the weapons... but there's no way in Hel I'm taking credit for something I didn't do..."

And with that, she stepped out leaving the brunette to call her name, a call she did not respond to...

.

Astrid ran, pulling the cart after her, it was a little harder with the added weight, but she managed. Her heart pounded in her chest, blood flowing with adrenaline, fuelled by the sounds and smells of the carnage spread throughout Berk, she was headed to the great hall where she was sure people would be, she manoeuvred through houses, keeping out of sight and making sure the cart won't turn over and spill its contents…

Astrid reached the great hall and found groups of warriors defending the building with all they had... most of them were injured, their armours barely had the ability to protect, weapons mostly broken…

Her gaze was suddenly drawn to one of the fighters, the dragon managed to disarm him, lifting a claw the beast pinned him to the ground, it spread out its wings in a threatening gesture, ready to land the finishing blow…

Astrid immediately snatched one of the weapons from the barrel –a bludgeon –and flung it at the beast, it connected with a resounding crack, but did no more than disorient it, normally, Astrid would take the reptile down herself, claiming not to need help and that she could handle it alone…

But now, Astrid finds herself not missing a beat as she flung a sword to the downed Viking, the weapon embedded itself on the ground just a few inches away from the warrior's arm, the Viking in question, shook his head as if to dispel himself from some sort trance, then snarled, grabbed the sword, and charged at the dragon with a fierce yell…

Satisfied, Astrid started moving towards the steps of the great hall where she was sure Stoick would be; giving out orders...

.

Berk was Doomed... Hiccup was sure of it... if they find out most of those weapons were fixed by him, they won't accept them... or maybe they will…

They'd just blame every death on him if those weapons fail to protect…

He really wanted to run after Astrid, to plead her some more, to ask her to reconsider, after all, she wouldn't be lying, since she did do some of the work…

Blood rushed to the brunette's head as he worried, the stress adding pressure to his temples making his headache... he put down the tools he was holding in favour of rubbing his forehead to relieve even just a bit of the lingering ache…

"This village is going to be the death of me..."

Hiccup paused and can't help but let out a deriding laugh at how accurate the statement was probably going to be...

.

Astrid wasn't able to meet up with the Chief, but other than that; everything was going smoothly... well, as smoothly as a crowd of Vikings shoving and pushing against each other trying to get to the limited amount of weapons can be, Astrid was finally able to get them to take turns, telling them she'd come back with more after this barrel runs out... but then some idiot decided to look the gift horse in the mouth…

"Lass, what fine craftsmanship... but I'm pretty sure this sword was a wreck before... where exactly did you get these?"

The whole group seemed to have frozen, and Astrid swore she could feel the air getting heavier... everyone knew it wasn't Gobber; Gobber wasn't here... she expected this though; she's even prepared an answer for it...

"Uh... H-Hank?"

She stuttered out before she could stop herself, Hiccup! She wanted to say Hiccup! But she can't bring herself to correct her own words as she feared what the effects would be... it could be believable, Hank was Gobber's student before Hiccup, the former being too impatient and headstrong to really learn anything more than straightening up crooked swords and sharpening blades... he's not even half as good as Hiccup, but the Village seemed to appreciate him more due to his build…

Maybe they'll buy it, they could just chalk it up to Hank finally learning the significance of forging weapons... maybe she could say he was struck with inspiratio–…

"Lass, he was struck by a dragon, lost his arm, that he did... he's inside resting..."

The whole group began to eye Astrid with suspicion, she stopped herself from biting her lip as a show of weakness and glared back...

"Okay fine! Hiccup did it, Hiccup fixed your weapons!"

The group of Vikings reeled back as if scandalized, one of them –the first to speak –dropped the sword he was holding and was looking at her with eyes wide…

" _Hiccup_ fixed our weapons!?" one of the Villagers gasped…

"Hiccup _fixed_ your weapons!" Astrid snarled back... oh sure, they'll accept Hank's work, but not Hiccup's? Hiccup's that was a hundred times better?

"He could have sabotaged those things!?"

"OR MAYBE HE COULD HAVE JUST LEFT YOU TO FIGHT BARE-HANDED, WHICH, WOULD GET YOU PIG-HEADED FOOLS DIE THAT MUCH FASTER!?" Astrid hollered, not even caring whether or not it garners unwanted attention... or it would soil her name, not that she considers being the one to defend someone; soiling her name…

"It's a weapon, something to defend yourselves with, but if you would much rather run back into the battlefield with merely your nails, be my guest! Who knows, maybe you could get them to drop dead from a single scratch! But remember this, whether or not you decide to live is your decision, not mine –"

Astrid picked up the sword that was lying on the ground and brought it up level to their gazes…

" –there's no guarantee you'd live after this, but if you take up arms, you could lessen their numbers, sure, they're probably not perfect... Hiccup was working on a pile of weapons taller than him, bigger than him, HEAVIER than him, All. By. Himself... and why the fuck would he do that if it's just to destroy the place he called home!?"

Astrid knew not all of what she said was true, but these people are being unreasonable! eh, details...

"You have no reason to believe he's there to kill you! Unless he has a reason to believe you're here to kill HIM..."

Astrid, seething, shoved the sword onto the nameless Viking's chest and hissed…

"So which will it be? Die uselessly or die trying?"

The group was dumbfounded, but then the silence was broken when the Twins –being; Ruffnut and Tuffnut –chose that moment to break through the wall of flesh and made a beeline for the barrel to draw out twin spears, with ridiculous battlecries, they charged at the nearby dragons... leaving the crowd to look after their back, and when the twins successfully downed the first dragon the band of Vikings finally stopped gawking and individually drew out weapons from the barrel…

Astrid took a step back to make room, she sized up the Twins, committing their deed to memory and decided she'd forgive Ruffnut... for now at least... letting out a sigh, Astrid turned to gaze at the very back of the gaggle of Vikings and spotted a man with a very red very braided beard…

The Chief!

Stoick was looking straight at her, Astrid didn't know how long he's been there, or where he came from, but she swore he was smiling at her... did he hear all that? Then, as if he could read her thoughts, Stoick gave her a nod which made pride swell up in her chest at the gesture, it took her a few moments to recollect herself and finally got her body to respond with a nod back…

Astrid knew she needed not inform him that his son was safe... she can tell, that was all the incentive he needed to start his fighting anew…

That is, if the Chief's fierce battle cry was no indication... she wasn't sure what is...

* * *

 **A/n:**

Please leave reviews, it can be your late birthday present for me... :P

Uhh... it was last month... 26...

'm 18 now...

.

"Funny coincidence... what's your name?"

A dim lightbulb lit the room as I lay on my stomach painting on an illustration board, half naked... what? I'm alone and it's my room, so I am perfectly authorized to ditch my oversized shirt... or run around naked for that matter...

"Fuck, I think I messed up the contour lines..." I muttered raising the board to eye-level, clutching my brush with my right hand...

"I need better lighting..."

I rolled on my back and turned to the laptop that was sitting on a pillow showing the website; AO3. I didn't move from my position, just stretching my hand to reach the keyboard and clicked Microsoft, I was long done –like, maybe a week ago? –with chapter five and was already starting on chapter six when my phone rang...

I flipped it open and the screen flashed;

[Zack: Yow"!-!]

I contemplated for a moment before replying with a simple [Hey]... but then I decided to add another message for a better conversation starter [guess what ur contact name on my phone is.] I waited for a few seconds before my phone pinged twice, signalling multiple received messages...

[Zack: At last ive been waiting for your reply since my last text]

I was caught a bit off guard cause, what? His text had been like, received ages ago, I just didn't feel like replying at that time...

[Zack: What? Deadpool?]

[Me: W8t, how long ago was it?]

[Me: No, try again.]

I smirked at the second message... as if I'd label this idiot as Deadpool...

[Zack: Oct 4 and im guessing spidey]

I scoffed at that and checked today's date... 10/21/2015... Oops? This guy sure can wait... but doesn't he have anything better to do than wait for my reply? I moved to the pile of pillows, opting to lean onto them and stacking the rest on my crotch... heh... took off my shorts... double heh... and draped my blanket over my tummy...

[Me: Nope.]

[Zack: Baboy?]

Translation: Pig, me and my sister might've called him that when we were young, and that may or may not have been my fault... what? I didn't mean anything malicious by it, promise! And besides, I don't call him that anymore... we were kids!

[Me: Nada]

[Zack: What?]

[Me: U were insulting urself?]

[Zack: Nope im used to it insulted]

Ouch... but I'm not gonna apologize... I really don't need to... he knows how I am, my "I love you"'s are either a punch to the biceps, a pinch to the back of his hand, a shove, or an endearment that doubles as an insult... heheh...

[Me: Keep guessing.]

[Zack: Fck... ummm... kirito?]

Srsly!? (heh, I remember a person trying to judge me once "Ur spelling sucks" they said "has it ever occurred to you that maybe it was on purpose?" I replied... tch, blowhard...)

[Me: Idiot, no.]

[Zack: clue?]

Okay this is just exhausting... but a bit funny...

[Me: U]

[Zack: mostly where can i see this name?]

Ugh!

[Me: U r an idiot]

[Zack: underdog?]

I loudly sigh and loudly exclaim "What gave you that idea!?"

[Me: U r a very big idiot, what's your name...]

That really wasn't a question... it was more of a statement, it took a while for the other side to reply, I almost gave up on waiting, and when he did, it was quite dumb...

[Zack: thats my contact name in ur phone?]

[Me: I reiterate, u. r. an. idiot.]

[Zack: guess mine] (ignored)

[Me: I will change ur contact name to idiot bro.]

[Zack: hey] (ignored)

I ignored his texts, went to Contacts and did just that... how stupid can one's younger brother get?

–What; were u expecting something else? A lover perhaps... –

[Me: I will put this funny conversation on ff. net, excuse me while I write my story.]

[Idiot Bro: okay majestic loser]

This kid really needs better material... instead of feeling insulted, I was a bit flattered with the majestic part...

[Me: Ur the one who lost, now shut up before you use up all my battery.]

[Idiot Bro: im gonna change it to ditcher]

Uh-huh, and I'm pretty sure there is no such word...

[Me: Heh...] after this reply I ignored the rest for a few moments before I gave up...

[Idiot Bro: chee!-!]

[Idiot Bro: charge ur phone imma txt u later]

[Idiot Bro: and how about changing ur contact into marvel or dc characters]

[Idiot Bro: instead of... insulting stuff its kinda stupid]

I smirked tiredly –I didn't get enough sleep last night, so I was feeling a bit drowsy –says the guy who chose "Pig" as a guess instead of his own name... he says he's used to it... liar... I wonder if he gets teased a lot... that kinda makes me mad...

[Me: No.]

[Idiot Bro: no what ? no imma not gonna charge my phone or no im not gonna change ur name?]

I snickered, and for a moment there, I was tempted to reply with "Both" but stopped myself. I was too tired to deal with this shit, no matter how amusing...

[Me: That's 4 me 2 know and 4 u to find out.]

[Idiot Bro: Whaaaat plss no riddles]

I didn't reply, which successfully ended our conversation... I actually love my bro –don't tell him that, it will inflate his ego –we live in different homes so we have this thing –admittedly embarrassing –everytime we meet up I address to him and say "Brothah!" and he answers with "Sistah!" it never fails to make me laugh...

If someone asks me to kiss him goodbye, I will smack him instead, walk by his side and leave with a smile at my wake...

There are no "goodbye"s between us, just...

"Pay me back next time you see me"s

So I really shouldn't have been surprised when I received a text from him for no apparent reason the next day after I charged my phone...

* * *

 **Leave Reviews!**

 **Dragonbow117** : Don't forget the shield

 **Yes, yes... very important...**


	6. Chapter 6 - Grudges

**This is unbeta-ed, bae was not available, and will continue as such for a while...**

 **I keep squealing everytime I open my tab... I really regret setting Allen as my wallpaper... you know, Crowned Clown" and all that...**

 **HE'S FUCKING HOT!?**

 **.**

 **Guest:** You kinda sorta shot yourself on the foot there, the first two chapters were badass and mature, then it became your usual 'Oh it's nothing', 'I actually care', love friendship lalala.

Kinda sorta, because the story it's still good, but seriously, you hyped the hell out of me with the snarky 'I don't give a crap' as hell Hiccups from chapter two, and now...

 **Blue663:** It is a necessity to keep Hiccup from gaining too much leverage... I have seen too many OP characters getting struck down by people of lower standard than themselves to allow such a thing to happen... and besides, people are not Hiccup's specialty... can you really judge a fish's ability to swim by how it climbs a tree?

Take note and watch... You haven't seen nothing yet...

A horse cannot run if it is tied to a post by the neck...

But seriously though, as a person answering another person, I apologize if it came off as manipulation on your feelings... I do things like that to my siblings and friends on a daily basis, bantering with bae(Cupcake(DB(Dragonbow117))) is just another form of it... I am unpredictable at times and may come off as someone with no regard for the characters I write about... but hey, if you grew up with conspiracy stories as fodder, wouldn't you be the same?

And don't worry... those sickeningly sweet 'I care' stories disgust me too... it won't be long until you'll wish I was dead...

(I decided to answer this review because I'm guessing this to be how the **MAJORITY** thinks. Thank You Guest for thinking like that... there should be more people like you to respond to these types of stories! The rest of you? I created a **FORUM** **;** you can deal with my wilfulness there, a **MONTH** is too long a wait for a simple **RESPONSE** **...** let your voice be heard!? You might want to repeat your Reviews there, though... that is, if you still want my response...)

I am to be open-minded, such is my aesthetic, but be mindful of the fact that I am human... there are simply things I cannot tolerate...

* * *

 **Chapter six**

"Grudges"

Hiccup paced around the smithy as his work lay abandoned on top of the anvil, he was just about done with the repairs –it didn't take very long since he didn't have to spend time on elaborate engravings or decorative hilts –and have made a few simple blades before his thoughts wandered to Astrid, he couldn't concentrate, not for the lack of trying, mind you... it has been hours since Astrid left through the smithy's door...

The weapons were not perfect; he knows that –they were of lower grade than the ones he normally made. So he really won't hold it against them if they rejected it due to the reason of them not being good enough... but they were Vikings! Crude, stinky, marauding seafarers who slay dragons to protect what was left of their Village...

So whether what they were holding be a metal stick or a blunt sword, they won't really care –Hiccup's not even sure they'd be able to tell the difference (don't misunderstand though, that is not a jibe at the level of intelligence the Berkians have, sure they don't have much of literary sense, but they can't be great warriors if not for their problem solving-capability) –they'll plunge it into the flesh of their opponents and make them bleed... that being said; the brunette's not really worried about the Villagers' views on quality... what he was worried about was if they reject his works just because they were his works, no matter how desperate they are... –which hurts a bit –and if they do reject them, what would become of their Village? What would become of Berk?

He paced some more before he heard loud clanging just outside that jolted him out of his musings, then a few footsteps could be heard getting louder and louder, Hiccup's heart skipped a beat when they were close enough that he could hear their conversation just a bit muffled by the door...

Hiccup slowly walked closer to hear better, he was not surprised he knew who those voices belonged to; it was _who_ their voices belonged to was what surprised him...

.

Silence stretched as they made their way towards the smithy, Fishlegs wore a look that indicated how weary he was as he pushes an empty cart forward... the whole gang was there; Astrid, Snotlout, The twins, and him... sometimes Fishlegs can't help but wish Hiccup was included in their little clique, but never mind, there's no use in thinking of a world where things were how he wanted it, especially when the odds were against it...

The atmosphere was tense; nothing like the usual air the group had when they were together... the tension was so thick you'd swear it affected the oxygen intake, moon was covered up by the thick smoke billowing over the fires that lit a few houses, fires that encased corners with eerie dark compelling shadows... Berk's normally humid air was a blazing inferno with embers flying every now and then when a piece of wood gave in and crumbled...

"Are sure we can trust him?" Snotlout asks, cutting through the thick uneasy air, reminding Fishlegs to keep walking. Snotlout clutched a mid-sized hammer closer looking out for any signs of danger...

None of them were too keen on facing dragons at the moment; this raid was nothing like the ones they have ever experienced before. This one has been going on for more than ten hours whereas the usual duration regarding raids should have lasted from six to eight hours at most, not to mention the number of dragons they had to face was doubled than the amount they were trained to take.

Everything used to be much easier when they were younger, before Dragon Training... peeking out the cracks of windows, admiring their parents as they procure treasures from their fallen foes; horns, claws, hide, fangs, farm stocks...

They took being protected for granted, and instead of cherishing it, they brushed it aside... hero worshipping their parents and thinking scars were all that, not thinking much of the blood they'd lose, the pain they'd experience, and the effort it took... everything was all so much easier censored and biased, Fishlegs realized they were blindsided... by their own beliefs... lulled by that false sense of security, they didn't realize everything was so much easier, luxurious even, until the gods decided to show them what actual hardship was like...

It took quite a while and far too many lives for the Berkians to realize that what they were knee-deep in was not a raid...

They were in a war...

"Of course we can trust him!" Astrid growled beside him, cutting off Fishlegs' grim musing as she proceeded to give Snotlout a look of incredulity with a mix of disgust, undoubtedly...

She narrowed her eyes at him like she was staring at an insect that was writhing futilely on the ground impaled by a stick, stubbornly keeping alive... She didn't like Snotlout, Fishlegs could gather as much from their everyday interactions, not that the rotund blonde blames her... especially not with the way Snotlout hangs out with her without reservations... or consent...

"Yeah, but are you sure?"

The way Snotlout asked the question seemed to have struck a chord with both Astrid and Fishlegs... why Fishlegs though? Well he used to be Hiccup's friend back then, sure they don't hang out anymore, but the auburn-haired youth never did anything to warrant distrust from anyone... the wispy teen can be annoying at times, what with all his side-comments, it's as if keeping his mouth shut physically brought pain to the youth...

Maybe it can be some kind of ability; can annoy a man within hearing distance, extremely annoying, avoid on sight...

"What is with you? What did Hiccup ever do to you?"

Astrid asked with a light growl to her tone, she sure was defensive with issues concerning Hiccup; best not question it if Fishlegs wants to keep his life... but with the things happening lately, Fishlegs wasn't too sure if he'd be keeping it for long...

"I think the question would be, Astrid, is; what did Snotlout do to him?"

"You got a problem with the way I do things?"

Snotlout says sneering with a little less heat than, Fishlegs guesses, the shorter teen wanted to inject... he was too jaded by the battles to put any effort, if none at all, in the words, though Fishlegs tries not to ponder too much on what he could do after the dark haired teen is well rested, he just hopes Snotlout would forget before that happens...

If it were any other time, Fishlegs would have probably denied that claim and proceed to try and placate the raven-haired youth's ire, but Snotlout wasn't the only one affected by the events that could possibly lead up to their destruction, all of them were... none of them were unscathed, battered and bruised each of them had their own luggage to carry and Fishlegs was in no mood to humour his childhood tormentor...

"Snotlout, almost everyone has a problem with the way you do things..." _except maybe you..._ was probably part of the statement, but didn't get past Astrid's lips... although the implication seemed to be clue enough for the rest of the gang... doesn't say much for Snotlout though...

"Yeah, and I'd bet you'd be the exception..."

Snotlout says, swerving his body towards Astrid's direction with a smug grin on his face, wiggling his brows and hips suggestively... Fishlegs knows that at some point a few girls would appreciate Snotlout's advances, he's not actually bad when it comes to looks, he was lucky enough to look better than most, in fact, he's been blessed by a lot of things... too bad having a brain was not one of them...

So case and point, Snotlout can charm a girl, albeit not so skilfully. Plus, they're sixteen, hormones can be something you simply cannot ignore, but Astrid's reaction can be anything, but normal...

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick..." Astrid says, all the while gagging and a little green around the edges as a result of the thinly veiled suggestion...

"I don't know about you guys, but I've gutted about a fuckjillion dragons with this spear and it's still sharp!"

Tuffnut pipes up, throwing his hands forward in a "you see this?" gesture enthusiastically... the sentence sounded ridiculous, the dragons raiding their island may have doubled in quantity, but their numbers won't be able to reach a million, much less a non-existent numerical value...

"You muttonhead, don't go around spouting nonsense, you've gutted only two! What in Thor's handle is a fuckjillion!?"

Ruffnut faces her brother with a sneer of contempt...

"But it's still sharp isn't it? Here touch it, and look me in the eye and tell me it's not sharp."

Tuffnut says as he all but thrust the blade of his spear at his sister's head, luckily, Ruff drew back at the same time Tuffnut did what he did, she managed to get away leading the blade to barely miss her eye in the process. The blonde seemed to not have minded the close call, instead of calling him out on his carelessness...

"Oh, I'm not falling for that one; I've seen you jam the tip up some dead dragon's ass at some point, I'm not touching that."

Ruff pushes spear's shaft down and followed it up with a violent kick when it was low enough...

"How dare you, you have no right to accuse me of such thing, and who are you calling 'muttonhead', yak for brains!?" feeling insulted Tuffnut gripped his spear, gesticulating at his sister... barely nicking her nose...

"I'm pretty sure I was talking to you, aside from having mutton for a head, I'm surprised to find you hard of hearing, are those nubs just for decoration or what?"

With the curl of her lips, Ruffnut crosses her arms side-viewing her brother, taunting him for what he was worth...

"Or what." Tuff decided...

"What?" Ruff asked, confused...

"What." He repeated...

"What..." Ruff deadpanned...

"What?" Tuff asked with a grin...

"Oh for fuck's sake! Will the both of you just SHUT THE FUCK UP before I rip off your tongues and shove em up your anuses, blocking those holes to keep the shit where they belong!?"

Silence rang through, not because of the words, but because it was Astrid who said them... and they all knew she was not one for empty threats...

"What?"

Both Twins asked in horror, but halfway through their stare of dread, Tuffnut looks down with an odd contemplative look about him... like he was really considering it...

"Astrid, I think you broke the twins..."

A nasally voice pierced through the air making everyone turn to face its owner... Fishlegs didn't notice when, but they seemed to have arrived at the smithy –as a contrast to the chaos around Berk, this part of the Village was quieter, unnatural even, completely devoid of fighting –at its door stood an auburn-haired teen, freckles dotting his face, in a much better condition than the group but seeming more tired than any of them at the moment, the brunette leaned against the door frame. Fishlegs did not know it to be possible, but the teenager's posture just _screamed_ sarcasm...

But just as noticeable as the sarcasm wrapping him, so was the tension in his form, he stood alert like he was expecting the gang to dogpile him into the next raid...

"Hiccup..."

Astrid slowly breathes out, slightly in surprise, narrowing her eyes at nothing in particular as she seems to have noticed that fact, but before she could go any deeper in her thoughts...

"But seriously though, it's quite a feat to get those two to shut up..."

Hiccup says, gesturing at the Twins who were looking at him funny, he ignored their inquiring looks, and instead gave Astrid his full attention... It didn't escape the rotund youth's notice that Hiccup's words bordered on flattery, he can even go so far as say; Hiccup was flirting with Astrid, though unlike Snotlout... This was more subtle, but not by much... and much to Fishleg's surprise, it didn't set off Astrid...

Maybe she didn't notice, maybe she's letting him... or maybe, just maybe; it's both... Astrid tilted her head to the side to get the twins within peripheral but still had most of her attention on Hiccup...

"Yeah, I try, but I'm afraid it won't be long before they start spouting nonsense again... so, how're the rest of the weapons, are they done?"

The blonde spoke while brushing her bangs aside and walked closer to the auburn-haired youth, stopping just a few paces close to the door... Hiccup went back inside and returned dragging a couple of barrels of weapons with him, being faced with so many shiny blades, you really can't blame the Twins if a few drops of drool escaped their notice...

"Have been for quite a while now... just starting up making some extra, hope it's up to your standards..."

Astrid drew out a random blade from the barrel and inspected the sharpness with a feather-light caress, she gave it a smile and nodded once in satisfaction. Even from Fishlegs' position, the large teen could see the red sheen of light reflected on the side of the weapons from the remaining fires that lit this desolate part of the village, the tips glistening like tiny stars...

"I think these will do, I've got orders to bring you with us along with the next batch of weapons..."

Hiccup did not like that very much... he narrowed his eyes and Fishlegs observes as the youth's body appear to have coiled into himself, fingers twitching, muscles tensing ever so slightly like he was ready to bolt any time...

"Astrid, if this is about my safety, I can hold my own. I've been here for quite some time and I'm still fine, you've got to give me at least that much right?"

A tinge of trepidation streamed through each word like a plea, a betrayal to a delicately forged promise. And obviously, Astrid was oblivious to this, how could she not? She barely spent a day with him, at least to what Fishlegs knew of. And even if she had more time with him, Fishlegs just knows she wouldn't understand, she never experience anything like what Hiccup and Fishlegs went through...

"Hiccup, this isn't about that. Look; the weapons will probably need sharpening from time to time and certain last minute repairs might come up, we lack a blacksmith for that job..."

She missed on a lot of Hiccups hidden messages... every sentence, have unspoken words that follow up, words that run through thoughts of the ones in the minority that led them to hesitate saying out loud...

"Then just bring them back here..."

 _It's only fair if you put effort in the things you want... you can't just ask something that would be an inconvenience to me..._

"Hiccup it's too much of a risk to go back and forth, and if the dragons decide to snatch up the people bringing the weapons it might not reach you or the ones who need it, not to mention it'd cut back on the number of warriors fighting."

 _The ones in need are the ones making demands... without even giving anything in return..._

"Are you calling me troublesome?"

 _When I'm the one giving you a chance at surviving?_

"No, I'm calling you stupid because we clearly just can't take that risk."

 _A risk worth it for the lives of the whole village..._

"Hey, what's the big deal, afraid of leaving your hidey-hole to face some overgrown lizards?"

Snotlout interrupts, it doesn't take a genius to know that dealing with Hiccup could be rather messy if not handled carefully... Hiccup has some issues with his living conditions... they still haven't been resolved... Fishlegs guesses Snotlout could be someone capable of pulling just the right levers to tip him off...

"Overgrown lizards that can fly, spit fire, cut you in half with a swipe –" Hiccup corrects him with eyes narrowed " –and no, I'm not worried about the dragons..."

"Then what, are you afraid of facing some Vikings? Hah, Useless is afraid of his own people!" He taunts... typical Snotlout...

"I'm not afraid of _some_ Vikings, Snotlout." Hiccup spat his name like some curse.

"I simply don't trust them if the last sixteen years is any indication, they certainly gave no reason for me to let them have my back" with every word hissed through his teeth, Hiccup's voice gradually rose... he jabbed an enraged digit at Snotlout and snarled with as much venom as a snake could coat it's fangs...

"The only ones that were actively trying to protect me were Gobber and occasionally; my Father, the rest had no trouble leaving me to be Dragonbait back then, why now? Is it because they're now desperate? And who are you to judge? I don't owe you anything, if you're so adamant in calling me 'Useless' why don't I just be that? 'Useless' to the likes of you!"

By now he was practically screaming at Snotlout and the raven-haired youth flinched back in response... Hiccup turned to the group as a whole, growling at them as he visibly tried to calm himself... he toned down the volume of his voice, but it didn't do much to tone down the loathing coating each word... although it's not really the gang he was mad at, it was the whole Village, their group was just a means of conveying his frustration...

"You guys turned your back on me once upon a time, what's stopping me from doing the same? Sharpen your own swords, see how you like that."

He stepped back and gripped the door's handle as Astrid stepped up after him, stubbornly missing the point as she walks up to him, stern.

"Hiccup, please be reasonable..."

"Reasonable!?" Hiccup voiced out in outrage, like he couldn't someone dared to cross him "How can I be reasonable when all that you do is, take? Not everything is just there for the taking!"

He told Astrid angrily, the auburn-haired youth took a deep breath, probably to hiss out even more anger coated words that bordered on profanity despite their individual meaning, but certainly fitted the context. Before he could even get out as much as a word however…

"Yes it is." Snotlout refuted petulantly, trying to smother his earlier flinch, but he wasn't able to stop a second one when Hiccup sent him a glare filled with perpetual anger, drowning the normally sarcastic look he had for one that was of someone with a deep seated hatred...

"No, it's not, if you just take, one day you'll run out, and that's today... I'm done with you guys thinking I'm some tool taken out only when it's convenient, never polished, just there to be used and thrown away when broken... I'm not giving you more than you've already taken."

 _You asked something from me..._

 _I gave you a price..._

 _You refused to pay..._

 _You've taken too much..._

 _You had your chance at redemption..._

"Leave. You're not getting anything from me..."

Hiccup said as he shook his head, eyes lit with revulsion, form riddled in hate, both fists clenched like he was holding himself back... No one said a word for a while. Fishlegs opted to look down not wanting to see the anger in his former friend's eyes that was absent before, as the door slammed shut loudly, making the wood protest at the force... Fishlegs didn't know how deep his loathing went...

But the look those cold hardened emerald eyes sent them... you get the message; negotiations were over... they really won't be receiving anything from the auburn-haired youth...

 _Not anymore..._

* * *

 **A/n:**

I really didn't plan for this to happen... I wanted Toothless to make an appearance... The gang plus Hiccup wouldn't let me... the fucking dialogue itself is problematic!?

I wasn't able to do more than this since school decided "Let's fuck with Blue's hobbies like the jackasses we are and make her writhe under her blanket because she won't have enough time to write her stories!" and there was also our electrical service provider that decided to "Cut off their electricity for a few hours while Blue's Laptop and tablet are very low on battery" did anyone honestly stop to reconsider how awful my life is!? For fucking Go-(Aunt: "Do not use the Lord's name to swear" Me: "What are you talking about? it's a title; not a name!")-

*SNAP*

Huh?

"What, it broke!?"(?)

"What'd you expect? You kept using the other end of the spear, of course it'd break!?"(?)

Tuffnut? Ruffnut? What are you doing in the Author's notes?

"Woah, who's that?"(T)

"I dunno, but that's an obscene amount of hair"(R)

 _Like you're any better..._

"What does that even mean?"(T)

"I dunno, heard it from Fishlegs"(R)

What are you guys doing here?

"You're still here?"(T)

I resent that...

"I don't care what you resent lady, who are you?"(R)

Author... for this Fanfic, I mean...

"You're a Thor!?"(T)

"Wow, so you're a god?"(R)

Uh, no and kinda...

"What do you mean no and kinda, just pick one lady!"(R)

I'm not exactly a God; I simply think up interesting things and make people do what I want them to do... well, I'm guess it's more like a puppeteer than a God, grasping the strings and controlling the flow–

"Blah, blah, blah, you're almost as bad as Fishlegs..."(R)

And you know an awful lot about him it seems...

"Uh..."(R)

"Hey, I think I found something"(T)

"That's a lot of buttons, what do you think it does?"(R)

"I have no idea, let's find out"(T)

Wait, no! DON'T TOUCH THA-KGDLBSLKABVBSDJKVGCLA VJKAJDCB,WEBKC DS ,Bsk FAD FDA CWGCAK,DUC,WHEGFICVRCVDCGVULWSC, ,V,AHHDVIAH/HDVLFVACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

"Wow..." (T&R)


End file.
